


Surprise of a Lifetime

by FireflySummerwynd



Series: Chance Meetings [4]
Category: Guns N' Roses, Poison (US Band), ashley purdy - Fandom
Genre: Adoption, F/M, IVF, In Vitro Fertilization, Multi, Other, Surrogacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:34:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 43,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23510872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd
Summary: Six months afterPoison Roseleaves off, Aerin Dall-McKagan Returns from the honeymoon trip she took with new husband Duff to a big surprise. Neither she, nor either of her husbands knew about the turmoil two of their closest friends were going through–till it all comesta a head whenshenearly takes a knife to the head over it.Aidan and Ash've been fighting more, but not over the typical culprits–cheating, finances, etc., etc. No, they've been fighting over whether to adopt or give surrogacy a try, their chief deciding factor being the need for a surrogate in the first place.So what happens when they find that surrogate a lot closer to home than either of them ever expected? Will any attempts at such a thing work out, or will they need to stick with adoption, if they want their only daughter to ever have a sibling?
Relationships: Ashley Purdy/Aidan Purdy, Bobby Dall/Aerin Dall-McKagan, Duff McKagan/Aerin Dall McKagan
Series: Chance Meetings [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680529





	1. One

_Nashville, Tennessee_

_June, 2026_

The woman now known as Aerin Dall-McKagan couldn’t help the deliriously stupid smile on her face as she walked outta BNA International in Nashville, Tennessee. Fresh off the honeymoon trip she’d taken with her second husband, Guns n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, she couldn’t help being in a great mood. She’d needed some kinda trip that didn’t involve her kids–even though she loved Zeppelin and Zeta with every fiber of her being–for a long Time. Maybe a handfasting wasn’t quite the same thing as a marriage the likes of which most of society was familiar with, but as far as she was concerned, it was still marriage all the same–and therefore, it required a honeymoon trip.

As she’d gotten to baggage claim to grab her luggage before it disappeared into what she and both husbands called the _airport void,_ she’d decided to make a quick check of her phone. She knew that Duff was likely still in the Air–they mighta both started out in their honeymoon destination of Williamsburg, Virginia, but he was flying back to his home in Seattle, Washington. But just ’cuz he was still in the Air didn’t necessarily mean her first husband, Poison bassist Bobby Dall, hadn’t tried to get in touch with her.

Part of her wasn’t surprised to see her phone light up to reveal a text from said first husband, and her smile only grew as she turned to head outta the airport. The thing that surprised her was the content of that text, which wasta let her know that he’d taken their kidsta the home of a couple they were close friends with. Apparently, there’d been some emergency at the restaurant he owned that he’d to respond to with a quickness.

Unlocking her truck once she finally got to it, Aerin’d no doubt that her Silver Fox of a husband had taken their kidsta the home of Ash and Aidan Purdy. Aidan was an occasionally hot-tempered ginger she’d met online and befriended due to a mutual Love of writing–particularly the controversial genre of fan-fiction–nearly a decade ago. Ash was the former bassist of Black Veil Brides who’d helped her out in more ways than one, but mostly financially, when she’d first blown into Nashville. If there was anyone besides either of her husbands, the wife of the younger, blonde one, and their collective kids she trusted with her babies, it was these two.

“I kinda wonder what on Earth called Bobby into the restaurant so suddenly, though,” the young woman muttered to herself as she fired up her truck. “Oh, well–guess I’ll find out once I get the kids and we’re all back home.”

So eager to see her babies again after a couple weeks away from them and to solve _that_ particular Mystery, she didn’t even realize she’d forgotten to fire off a text to Aidan. Her friend was rather fond of knives, just like she was herself, so she usually let her know she was heading her way before she ever left her starting point. Some of the knives the ginger’d acquired over the Years’d prolly give even Freddy Krueger nightmares, and she never wanted to find herself on the pointy End of one.

Not thinking anything of it as she parked in the driveway of the home she’d once lived in, Aerin killed her truck and started fishing up the key she’d kept, even after she moved out. The Purdys–who’d handfasted back in April so the Chaos was somewhat staggered–trusted her prolly more than they trusted anyone else besides each other. Obviously, both of the older bassists were a part of that group, but after what’d made Ash flee the good Life of So Cal to live in Nashville in the first place–well, their group of explicitly-trusted folks was small, and with damn good reason.

Aerin barely got a chanceta look up after unlocking and opening the front door of her former home before she was greeted with an irate shriek and something shiny flying at her face. Grateful for having the reflexes of a Cat when she wanted to, she quickly jerked the front door shut, allowing the tip of the knife that’d been thrown at her to bury itself in the Mahogany of the door.

_“Fanculo me_ – _sacro Juno, Regina degli Dei!”_ she snapped, debating trying to open the door again as her other hand clapped itself to her chest. Her heart felt like it was about to beat a pink tattoo through her ribs and fly right outta her chest.

“Aerin?” Seconds later, the front door swung open in front of her, revealing Aidan–who’d wrenched her knife from the back side before opening it. “Fuck, I’m _soooo_ sorry–I didn’t realize it was you!”

“What the hell gives with flinging knives at the door when ya hear a key in the lock?” the younger woman growled, knowing how lucky she was just to be alive right now.

“Ash and I got into a fight earlier,” her friend sighed, waving her into the house with the knife in her hand. “I told him to get lost for the Night, and that if he came back before Morn, he was getting greeted by a knife flying at the face.”

“Fuck me, nekkid and runnin’,” Aerin groaned. “What in the hell were y’all fighting about? ’Cuz I think we both know it’s as abnormal for y’all to fight as it is for me and Bobby–or me and Duff, for that matter–to.”

“Well…” The ginger almost looked like she didn’t wanna talk about it right before tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh, hon.” She grabbed her taller friend in a Bear-hug, instantly getting that whatever their fight’d been about, it was big.

“Ash and I’ve been talking about surrogacy,” Aidan finally said after a short bout of crying. “He doesn’t wanna go through having a needle shoved into his nuts or anything of the sort without already having a surrogate lined up.”

“Well, I kinda don’t blame him,” the young woman chuckled. “I don’t imagine it feels any better than having a needle jammed through your pussy wall and into an ovary.”

“Wait, what?” Her friend looked both surprised and confused.

“Look, I know I said I didn’t want anymore kids, but I still had a few eggs frozen after the twins were born, just in case I ever Changed my mind,” Aidan laughed. “Howddaya think they got ’em outta me after a good month or two of being hopped up on Fertility drugs?”

Letting out a laugh of her own that left her leaning over on her sharp-shooting friend, the ginger admitted that she definitely had a point with that. They were both quick to sober up from their laughter, which amazingly didn’t wake the trio of kindergarteners napping down the hall in Aerin’s old room. After all, there was a serious topic that needed discussing, ’cuz said former resident of this home wasn’t about to let it go. Not after nearly taking a knife meant for the guy who was her best friend and surrogate brother to her own face ’cuz they’d gotten to fighting over this topic.

As it turned out, Aidan’d already gone through the required parts of surrogacy on her End–and amazingly, right under her husband’s nose. He’d been so busy with his clothing line, the various flips he still worked on, and his solo career in Music that he hadn’t even noticed her scrips in one of her drawers in the master bathroom. For that matter, he hadn’t even noticed the syringes required for her to give herself the injections of the Fertility drugs she needed to boost her egg count for the retrieval she’d undergone the week previous. Both women agreed that men could be pretty dense sometimes, but they hadn’t expected Ash to be that dense till his wife’d to refuse sex ’cuz of the procedure she’d just undergone.

While both halves of the couple were in agreement that they didn’t want their daughter, Ember, to grow up a lonely only-child like her daddy had, that was where the disagreements started. The ginger was all for giving surrogacy a try, then resorting to adoption since there were plenty of children who needed a forever-family, if that didn’t work out for them.

However, Ash wasn’t willing to let anyone wielding a needle and/or other sharp object near his crotch without a surrogate already lined up. He’d decided he’d enough of that shit after undergoing a vasectomy to make sure his wife didn’t conceive again following an accident that’d left her pelvis held together with rods and screws. To him, it was just better and easier to go ahead and adopt, even though that certainly wouldn’t be a quick, easy process in and of itself.

“Every potential surrogate we’ve looked at seemsta have the fuckin’ crazy-eye,” Aidan sighed. “That, or they’ve a personality trait that one or both of us just can’t mesh with.”

The young woman was quite literally biting her tongue as she let her friend rant.

“Besides, we’ve _gotta_ be able to trust whoever winds up being our surrogate with such precious cargo, andja know how hard it can be for Ash and I to trust others,” she continued.

“Too well I know it, given that your Trust issues’re damn near as bad as my own,” Aerin agreed with a chuckle.

“I just dunno what the hell we’re gonna do,” the ginger all but whimpered. “I feel like this is tearing us apart, and we’ve been handfasted only two months now.”

“Yeah, but look at all the other shit you’ve overcome in the last five or six Years, too,” she pointed out. “Moving from Missouri, an accident that coulda killed you and Ember both, the aftermath of that, and just the general shit damn near every couple on the Planet faces at one point or another on top of all that.”

Aidan merely nodded, knowing that she’d a point, but didn’t get a chanceta respond before she heard the front door open.

“Knock knock–am I gonna get a knife thrown at me, if I open this joker any further?”

Laughing, she got up to actually open the door when she heard the voice of one Bobby Dall. “Nah, ain’t gonna happen, Bobby–that was your wife I nearly got with my knife.”

“Wait, what?” Opening the door revealed that it was, in fact, Bobby standing there–and with someone else behind him. “Well, I guess I shoulda known you’d come here to get the kids after ya got my text, if ya weren’t still in the Air, sweetheart.”

The young woman let out a laugh of her own as she got up to join them so she could give him a kiss, which allowed her to see Ash behind him. “Yeah, ya damn well shoulda, love.”

“We’ll talk about your trip–the parts I _do_ wanna know about, that is–once we get home,” Bobby told her once they’d parted. “I told Ash I’d play mediator when he called me from the restaurant, threatening to sleep on the floor in the kitchen, if Aidan couldn’t be talked into letting him back in the house tonight.”

The quartet headed back through the foyer to the living room, the Silver Fox’s wife more familiar with the layout of the house than he was. He’d paid her plenty of visits when she was still living here, but he hadn’t really been throughout the house like she had for those couple Years. Either of their friends coulda asked them to grab something outta the master bathroom, and she’d prolly find it before he would, just from knowing the floor plan and general layout of the house better.

Once they were settled in the living room, Aerin shot the younger bassist a look that he recognized all too well. It was the same look she used to give him when they were roommates that clearly told him to shut the fuck up, or he’d have hell to pay. She then turned that same look on his wife, who recognized it just as well as he did and nodded her assent, even though she seemed every bit as reluctant.

Bobby nodded, as well, when she waved her hand in a manner designed to say that he’d the floor to go first so he could fill both women in on his younger counterpart’s side of the story. She wasn’t surprised when he confirmed what Aidan’d been telling her about her husband not wanting to undergo a sperm retrieval without a surrogate lined up. She also wasn’t surprised that his reason of not wanting anymore sharp objects near his crotch without knowing for sure it wouldn’t be in vain was confirmed. And she definitely wasn’t surprised that it turned out he didn’t wanna waste Time on surrogacy that they coulda been going through the long, arduous processta adopt, which could make them miss out on adopting a certain child.

With the womenfolk completely filled in, the Silver Fox waved his hand in the same gesture his wife’d used, turning the floor over to her. In her typical gently-blunt manner, Aerin filled him in on the ginger’s stance, and he was the only one to realize she was biting her tongue on something. Based on the glint in her eyes that he recognized all too well, he knew damn good and well she was already cooking up something, and he’d a feeling he knew what it was. He didn’t open his mouth and say anything, not just ’cuz he’d given her the floor, but ’cuz he didn’t wanna say anything prematurely.

“Whew, what a fuckin’ mouthful,” the young woman chuckled once she’d concluded her–and her friend’s–side of the tale.

“You’re telling me, sweetheart,” Bobby agreed with a chuckle of his own. “Now, what on Earth’s tumbling around that gorgeous brain of yours? And don’t tell me it’s nothing, ’cuz I know ya better than that.”

“Oh, it’s not nothing–and I wasn’t gonna,” she snickered, rising so she was strategically positioned between each of their friends. “But y’all’re fuckin’ morons!”

_“Ow!”_ Both rubbed their heads after she Gibbs-smacked them simultaneously, each of her hands connecting with their heads at the same Time. “What the fuck was that for, Aerin?”

“You’re both fuckin’ idiots for letting it get to the point of Aidan trying to throw Ash outta his own house–even for a single Night–when you’ve _had_ a surrogate right in front of y’all the whole Time,” Aerin elaborated.

“Wait, what?” Ash’s jaw dropped as he looked up at her, his hand falling from where it’d been rubbing the back of his head.

“Seriously?” Even his wife was shocked. “You’d actually be willing to…?”

“Why the hell not?” The younger woman shrugged. “Duff still can’t make up his mind whether _he_ wantsta go through sperm retrieval or not–although not for the same reasons as Ash–so why waste Time on this, waiting for him to make up his mind?”

“Hold on a minute,” the Silver Fox said. “Now you’ve got _me_ confused.”

“The long and short of it, Duff started rethinking not wanting anymore kids while we were planning our handfasting,” Aerin explained. “He’s still undecided since his girls’re grown and he got his vasectomy right after Mae was born. Since it’s been so long since he’d a baby, he’s leaning more toward _not_ than anything.”

“Can’t say as I blame him,” he said. “I damn well wouldn’t have had anymore, if Zep and Zeta hadn’t been such an unexpected, but lovable accident.”

“Well, he can’t make up his mind, _I’m_ not entirely sold on having more kids of my own, and these two need a living incubator, so to speak.” She gave the pair a hard look. “Y’all know damn good and well what my habits are, and that the worst I do is vape. We’d have to talk to medical staff about whether it’d be better to keep vaping, go on the patchesta slowly wean myself off before or after an IVF attempt, or go cold turkey, but whatever–we can figure that part out later.”

“And she’s bound to get attached to any baby she were to carry for us sooner or later, if she’s Auntie Aerin to them as much as she is to Ember,” Aidan pointed out as she looked at her husband.

The younger bassist was the one to point out that she’d been lucky to carry Zep and Zeta to term, considering the miscarriages she’d had before she even turned twenty. Aerin rolled her eyes and said that even if that _weren’t_ the case, not every attempt at IVF worked, whether it was being done for surrogacy or otherwise. Besides, that’s why they’d keep looking into adopting–since surrogacy wasn’t guaranteed, there was no need to shut down _that_ avenue and pin their Hopes entirely on something else. But there also wasn’t any reason not to give surrogacy a try since they wouldn’t know if it’d actually work, if they didn’t.

Knowing she’d a point with even that, Ash sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, which he still kept dyed as black as he did in his twenties. He finally looked up at the pair of women and said he’d be willing to give it a shot, now that they’d a surrogate they knew they could trust–but only if they kept the adoption avenue open, in case it didn’t work out.

Aidan veritably squealed as she all but launched herself into his lap, Bobby laughing as he dove outta the way so he wouldn’t get whacked with any flailing limbs. She didn’t necessarily have a preference between a biological child and an adopted one, but she certainly didn’t see why they couldn’t try everything possible. With their friend basically offering herself up as a living incubator, they might actually get another biological child without putting herself or the baby at unnecessary risk.


	2. Two

Over the next month, the first thing that both couples took care of was the legal side of Aerin being the Purdys’ surrogate. That wasn’t exactly complicated, ’cuz it wasn’t like she wanted money outta the couple, or anything of the sort–she just wanted to grant their current biggest Wish. And it wasn’t like she wanted to keep the baby after it was born, should even their first attempt work, since she already had two kids of her own and wasn’t entirely sure of having more outside surrogacy.

Since that part was pretty much taken care of within the Space of an hour, rather than Days or weeks, the next step was the actual Fertility part. Normally, she and Aidan both’d be put on Fertility drugs–she to help with making sure any transferred embryos actually implanted, the ginger for egg retrieval. Given that her friend had already undergone an egg retrieval, she didn’t need the Fertility drugs at this point and vetoed being put on them. As a Witch who preferred _au Natural_ when and where she could get it, the younger woman refused to be put on them, herself. She was more willing to move in with her friends–or let her friend move in with her–to let their cycles sync up Naturally versus be drugged to do it.

It was the tail End of August, the Beginning of September, before the womens’ cycles’d synced up so that they started their periods only a Day apart. With them synced up that closely, it was the prime Time to transfer any embryos that were deemed viable by the lab staff that went so far as to triple-check them. Since mid-June, they’d managed to get Ash corralled into the Fertility clinic to undergo his sperm retrieval, which he certainly hadn’t been happy about. He’d been crabby for a full week after quite literally taking a needle to both his nuts, which was the least invasive procedure and most agreeable to him.

Considering how intimate the transfer process was, Aerin barred both the couple and each of her husbands from the procedure room. She didn’t mind them waiting in the waiting room, but she was trying to be as fair as she could under the circumstances. If she wouldn’t allow the actual parents in there during the procedure, she wasn’t letting either of her husbands in, even for moral support.

“All right–Lights off,” the fertility specialist the two women now shared said.

Aerin veritably forced herself into a meditative trance so she could ignore the worst of what was being done to her.

“Sorry about that,” said specialist–Dr. Hill–said sympathetically when she gasped sharply at the ultrasound gel that got squirted on her lower belly.

“Just get it over with–preferably _without_ ripping me outta my trance again,” the young woman grumbled. “’Cuz it ain’t the gel or needing to piss that’s bothering me.”

“Ya gotta lemme know what’s wrong, if anything is,” she told her with a frown.

“Nothing you’re gonna be able to fix till ya get that damned speculum outta my crotch,” Aerin grumbled. She wasn’t about to tell her that it felt like said medical instrument was actually a knife to some very intimate parts, or this process’d never get done–and she did mean _never_.

“All right, Mrs. Dall–just take some deep breaths,” the specialist told her.

Already back in her meditative trance, there wasn’t any real need to tell her to take deep breaths, ’cuz she’d already Returned to doing that. It was the only way she could ignore the pain in her pelvis and lower belly, which she knew would go away once the speculum was removed. Unfortunately for her, it was a problem she’d suffered from since adolescence, which was why she avoided even a pelvic exam whenever she could. In fact, there’d been a few Times that she’d even avoid sex just so she wouldn’t have to deal with it, but that was rare after coming to the realization that she’d a magnesium deficiency.

It didn’t take long for Dr. Hill to thread the tiny catheter through her cervix and get it fed far enough into her womb for embryo placement. Watching the ultrasound carefully, she made sure the three embryos being transferred were placed near the top of her womb, but not so close that they’d risk trying to go back up into her fallopian tubes. The last thing they needed on their hands was an ectopic pregnancy, considering that could kill surrogate mother, baby, or both, were any of them to implant.

Practically the second the transfer was done and all medical equipment was removed from her body, Aerin was pulling her legs back outta the stirrups they’d been put in. She didn’t even care that she was scurrying down the hall buck-nekkid–she’d to piss so bad, her eyeballs were veritably floating in their sockets. It was part and parcel of having an ultrasound, though, so there was nothing she could do about it till after the transfer.

Finally able to relieve herself, the young woman started worming her way back into her clothes before she even stood up from the toilet. The only thing she _didn’t_ have on by the Time she left the bathroom she’d appropriated were her boots, and that was just outta Respect for other staff and patients. She figured she could get her boots back on in Dr. Hill’s office just as easily as in the bathroom, but at least waiting till she was back in her office was nicer to others who might need to go. And she wasn’t surprised to find both husbands, Ash, and Aidan waiting for her anxiously by the Time she got to said specialist’s office. No doubt they were all curious about how the transfer’d gone, not to mention what their next step in this whole process was.

“The transfer, itself was a Success–all three embryos were placed exactly where we wanted them,” Dr. Hill informed them with a smile once she was settled in Bobby’s lap, her feet in Duff’s. “Now, it’s just a waiting game to see how many, if any of them implant.”

“How long’ll it take before we know?” Ash asked, momentarily tightening his grip on his wife’s hand since their fingers’d already been laced.

“I want Mrs. Dall to come back for a follow-up in two weeks,” she answered. “We should be able to tell for sure then.”

Aerin rolled her eyes, knowing she’d already know long before any formal testing gave them an answer.

“Just go home and get some rest now,” the specialist told them with a smile. “And try to keep stressta a minimum–it’s not good for any potentially expectant mother, but in this case, there’s no reason for either of the prospective parentsta drive themselves into an early grave, either.”

“Guess we’ll be seeing ya in two weeks, then,” the youngest bassist agreed.

All of them took a few momentsta shake her hand before they headed out, Aidan unable to help a grin as she turned and grabbed her friend for a tight hug.

“Be glad I love y’all, or I wouldn’t have partially sacrificed myself like that, so to speak,” Aerin grumbled, even as she Returned the hug.

“Ya all right, hon?” Duff asked, gently rubbing her back.

“Sore, but I didn’t speak up about it for a reason,” she answered.

“Why’s that?” Ash asked. Since he’d never been intimate with her, he didn’t know certain details like her husbands did.

“Having anything–even a tampon–in my cunt tendsta feel like I’m being stabbed,” the young woman answered once they were back in her truck, the Silver Fox behind the wheel. “But a speculum’s required for this shit, so there was no way around having one used on me.”

“What’s a–” he started, his wife gently cutting him off.

“Think a hollow dildo to hold a woman open so a nurse or doctor can actually see her cervix,” Aidan chuckled.

“Oh, fuck all that noise,” he laughed. “That makes me feel a lil better about taking a needle to my nuts now.”

He was answered by two middle fingers from over the front seat, the young woman’s handfasting sets glittering in the Sunlight.

“But don’t think I didn’t see ya roll your eyes back there,” the ginger told her once they’d all stopped laughing at her typical non-verbal response.

“Hey, ya know how well I listen to my body,” Aerin retorted, turning enough to smirk through the gap left by the console. “I daresay I’ll know if it worked or not in a week, let alone two.”

As they headed back to the Purdys’ house so they could drop the couple off, she explained that she’d learned to simply listen to her body as a teenager. In doing that, she could tell when she needed to avoid sex, if she didn’t wanna conceive, how close she wasta starting her period, and various other bodily functions. She could even tell when a migraine was coming on before she ever felt the slightest twinge of pain, ’cuz she’d noticed that her already ridiculously high sensitivity to Light and Sound increased even more. When she noticed that increase, she could take something to get rid of it before it ever really started, and it usually worked.

Upon dropping Ash and Aidan off so the latter’s mother didn’t necessarily _have_ to watch lil Ember anymore, the remaining trio were just ready to get back to the Dalls’ home. They’d all gotten up earlier than they normally would so they could even make this appointment, but Aerin in particular hadn’t slept very well, if at all. She hated medical facilities with a burning Pasion straight from the Pits of Hell, and she almost never got any sleep when she knew she _had_ to get up for something the next Day.

Walking into their empty house since Zep and Zeta were currently with Bubba Zach, Bobby was surprised when she all but jerked him down to her level. He was even more surprised by the heated kiss she gave him, one arm locked around his neck to hold him there while the other was reaching out for Duff. Unsure of what their shared wife was up to, he supposed he didn’t have much of a choice but to go with it, considering that he’d no doubt hurt himself, if he tried to get away. Course, his blonde counterpart was equally surprised when she broke that kiss, only to yank him down nearly a foot to steal an equally heated kiss from him, too. She didn’t normally behave this way, so they both knew something was up, even if neither’d the heart to ask her.

“Make Love to me,” Aerin all but whispered, considering the Silence of the house.

“Wait, what?” the Silver Fox asked, rearing back slightly in surprise.

“Don’t question me–just do it,” she growled as she grabbed them both by the crotch. “I _need_ to make Love with my husband–both of ’em–after what I just went through.”

“Well, how can we say no to that?” Duff chuckled, even as he squirmed slightly.

“Dunno ’bout _you,_ but there’s no way _I’m_ saying no,” he said with a growl of his own. “And definitely not with my junk in the vice known as her hand.”

It was abnormal for the young woman to even think about a threesome, whether it was between her and her men, or her and the McKagans. Even more abnormal for her wasta actually _request_ such a thing, but they both had a good idea of why she was doing such a thing. This whole process was incredibly intimate for all parties involved, and no doubt she needed to feel that bond between the three of them, what with the new one now Created by her and their friends.


	3. Three

Aerin’d known in less than a week that the embryo transfer was a complete Success, just like she’d said she most likely would. She’d already noticed that her Energy levels were nose-diving a lot earlier in the Eve in about five Days, even on the Days that she pretty much just laid around ’cuz of her hip bothering her or something. By the seventh Day, she was already starting to get that familiar pit of unease in the very pit of her stomach, like full-blown nausea was coming, but not quite there yet.

Even Bobby’d already noticed the Change in his wife’s behavior, and he couldn’t help a smile every Time he found her zonked on the couch for a nap or something. It didn’t take a geniusta figure out that at least one of the embryos’d implanted, but even he knew more than one mighta. After all, she’d Naturally conceived twins with her first successful pregnancy, and three embryos’d been transferred this Time around.

The Morn of that two-week follow-up appointment, the young woman all but kicked her slightly older husband outta bed as she scrambled up. She’d been jolted awake by a sudden wave of nausea that wasn’t gonna be satisfied till she’d left her guts in a trash can or the toilet, and she knew it. Said husband sleepily rubbed his eyes as he turned on the lamp on his nightstand, then blindly reached for his glasses so he could see straight. Even though his vision was still blurry once said glasses were on, he still got up to round the bed so he could go check on his wife. Judging by the Sounds that already met his ears, the Silver Fox already knew what he’d find, so he wasn’t surprised when he flipped on the bathroom Light.

Kneeling in front of the toilet to the left of the doorway, Aerin heaved and gagged so hard, he figured it was a Wonder she hadn’t choked yet. Without saying a word, he simply knelt down beside her and pulled her hair back for her, allowing her to go after a two-handed Death grip on the toilet bowl. This was practically identical to how he and Ash’d found her at the Beginning of her pregnancy with Zep and Zeta, so he knew it’d have to be brought up at the appointment in a few hours. Hopefully, she could be prescribed something to help with the nausea now instead of waiting till she wound up in the ER from it again.

“Better now, sweetheart?” Bobby asked once she finally collapsed with her head on the rim. It was like a sense of _déjà vu_ overcame him as he rubbed her back.

“For…now,” his wife panted as she caught her breath.

“Deep breaths, then,” he told her gently. “You’ll _catch_ your breath quicker that way.”

_“Oooh,_ Goddess,” Aerin whimpered as she pushed herself upright a couple minutes later. “I forgot how much the Morn sickness _fuckin’ sucked.”_

“I’m sure ya did,” the Silver Fox chuckled softly. “But hey, at least it’s for a good cause this Time around, rather than ’cuz either of your husbands made a rookie mistake again.”

“True enough,” she agreed, allowing him to help her up so she could at least rinse her mouth out.

Bobby let her lean on him as if he were a human crutch, even before he’d reached down to flush the toilet for her. Somehow, he got the feeling they wouldn’t be getting much more sleep, even though it was currently only the Witching Hour. As bad as her Morn sickness’d been the first Time around, it’d taken what amounted to a prescription version of Pepto Bismol for her to get any kinda decent sleep the first four months or so that she was pregnant.

* * *

Six hours later, the Silver Fox pulled his wife’s truck into the parking lot of Dr. Hill’s office, almost instantly spotting Ash’s beloved ’56 Oldsmobile. Taking care to leave more than enough Spaceta get out without the vintage gem getting damaged, he was surprised when he looked over at it. He’d expected Aidan to be in the passenger’s seat, but she was snickering where she sat in the _driver’s_ seat instead, Ember appearing to giggle madly in the back seat. Course, with what appeared to be Ash snoozing against the window–and looking kinda funny from how his face was squished against said glass–he couldn’t blame the pair for laughing at him.

Careful not to ding anything so he wouldn’t have to listen to any lip later, Bobby flashed the ginger a wave before gesturing to the other side of the truck. Nodding, she opened her own door and stepped out so she could flip up the seat to get her baby girl outta her booster seat. As she was working on that, he headed around the front of the truck to get his wife outta her own passneger’s seat, where she’d dozed off again, herself.

“If she’s feeling half as bad as _he_ is, it’s no Wonder she’s out like a Light,” Aidan giggled softly, practically holding the younger bassist up once he’d gotten outta his car.

“Oh, so _he’s_ the one who got it the first Time around, huh?” he chuckled, holding his wife baby-style as he carried her up to the door.

“Bad enough that he was Cursing not getting that vasectomy done _before_ he met me most of the Time,” the ginger snickered.

“’Cuz I felt like I’m sure Aerin did with the twins, and prolly does now,” Ash grumbled.

“Good Morn,” the receptionist greeted them, gently interrupting their slight bickering. “How can I help y’all?”

“We’re here for a two-week follow-up with Dr. Hill,” Bobby spoke up, gently shifting his wife to his left hip. “She’d an embryo transfer done two weeks ago so she could be their surrogate.”

His younger counterpart merely waved at her, his own wife giggling as she picked their daughter up.

The receptionist went through the typical check-in procedure before directing them to the waiting area. “If ya can wake her up enough to fill this out while you’re waiting, that’d be greatly appreciated.”

“Shit, I can prolly fill it out _for_ her,” he chuckled, taking the clipboard passed to him. “As her husband, I’d like to think I know her that well.”

“If ya can, even better since she looks downright miserable,” the receptionist laughed.

Aerin remained knocked out cold after her half-sleepless Night as the group headed over to the aforementioned waiting area. Her husband was gentle about settling in one of the chairs, letting her remain so that she was now straddling his lap instead of bothering to wake her up. They almost looked like father and daughter more than they normally did, but he didn’t really care as he readjusted his glassesta read the paperwork he’d been handed.

Ash shot a rather scathing look at a couple other women in the waiting area that he overheard gossiping about the couple none too quietly. He already wasn’t in the best of moods from spending half the Night curled up in front of his own toilet on a memory foam pad that Aidan’d eventually talked him into laying on ’cuz he kept waking up sick so often. The last thing he wanted to put up with was a pair of ignorant bitches shit-talking his friends, one of whom was essentially sacrificing herself for him at the moment. His temper could get ignited almost as quick as hers and his wife’s when he wasn’t feeling good, even though he was normally a pretty laid-back guy.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before a nurse stepped out to call the younger woman back, the entire group rising to go back with her. Lil Ember contently sucked her thumb as she held her mother’s hand with her free one, looking back in Awe as they headed back to an exam room. She normally didn’t like doctors’ offices, which coulda been a subconscious remnant of spending her first two or three months in the hospital, but at least she seemed fairly Calm right now. If anything, she seemed intrigued by a lotta the stuff she saw as she followed the adults she was with, much like any other kid her age.

Bobby settled on the exam table with his wife still in his lap, although now she was turned so that her rump was settled between his legs. Hers were both thrown over one of his thighs as he snuggled her against his chest like she was a lil kid, which was a pretty cute sight for the Purdys. Even still, he was working on gently waking her since the nurse needed to get her vitals and she was no doubt gonna have questionsta answer soon.

“She can stay asleep for now,” the nurse chuckled. “She just might not like the BP cuff getting pumped up around her arm.”

“Don’t, even when I’m fully awake,” Aerin grumbled, her words kinda slurred. “Hurts.”

“Why it hurt Auntie?” Ember asked as she looked her up at her parents curiously.

“’Cuz when what this nice lady’s talking about gets pumped up to measure her blood pressure, it squeezes her arm just like it doesta yours,” Aidan answered. “But it doesn’t hurt for long, just like when your doctor does it to chu.”

_“Ohhhh.”_ The lil girl giggled as she turned her attention back to the exam table.

“Auntie’s just in a bad mood like Daddy ’cuz she prolly didn’t get much sleep last Night,” she told her. “So, she’s more than a lil crabby right now and prolly doesn’t want anyone really messing with her.”

“Damn right, I don’t,” the younger woman slurred, wincing as she felt the cuff on her arm tightening.

Her husband simply rubbed her back, frowning when the nurse did.

“Ninety-five over sixty-five,” she reported as she took the cuff back off. “Does her BP normally run this low?”

“Not that I know of,” Bobby answered, shaking his head. “But she _did_ spend the last six hours vomiting off and on, so that might’ve something to do with it.”

“Possibly,” the nurse agreed. “She might be a lil on the dehydrated side, if that’s the case.”

The nurse was quick to finish getting her vitals, although she was surprised to find that she was running a bit of a fever when she took her temp. At only one-oh-one, it wasn’t really anything to worry about–if she was actually pregnant, it could just be the normal fluctuations that an expecting mother often experienced. If it’d been any higher than that, she’d have insisted that her husband stop snuggling her to let her cool down a bit, if she was gonna, so it could be checked again.

Not long after the nurse’d left to go inform Dr. Hill that they were waiting on her, the Fertility specialist in question was knocking on the exam room door. Right behind her was Aerin’s OB/GYN, Dr. Kenda, who’d be taking over her care, should they get a positive pregnancy test today. She was pretty sure that’d be the case as she looked up to at least nod at the pair of doctors, the latter of whom could tell there was more going on.

Since she did, indeed prove to be a bit on the dehydrated side, they insisted that she at least try to drink some Water. Not only would that help get her rehydrated, but it’d help them get the urine pregnancy test they wanted to do to see if at least one of the embryos’d implanted. While she was reluctant about trying to drink anything, as nauseous as she was, she told them they might as well not even bother with the urine test. Cocking a brow at her, the Fertility specialist started to question her about that, which made her OB/GYN laugh and gently stop her.

“Ten bucks says that if I check her purse, we’ll have our answer,” Dr. Kenda told her.

“By all means,” Aerin said, holding out the item in question, which looked like a small leather backpack.

Quickly rooting through it, she found exactly what she thought she’d find in it. “You’re too predictable sometimes, Aerin.”

“What the–” Dr. Hill started, her eyes widening as she handed her the lil white stick she’d pulled out. “Well, I’ll be…”

“Our patient knows her body better than anyone, and for obvious reasons,” the OB/GYN chuckled. “When it getsta telling her something, she listensta what it’s to say better than just about any patient I’ve ever had.”

“But when didja get a chanceta take this?” Bobby asked, looking down at his wife after realizing what’d been pulled outta her purse–and what it said.

“Right before we left,” she answered, shrugging slightly. “Figured I’d hold it as long as I could to get the most accurate result, but take it as closeta the appointment as possible.”

Dr. Kenda laughed again as she extended the lil stick to the other couple, whom she knew her patient was playing surrogate for.

“Pregnant,” Aidan breathed as her own eyes widened.

“Not that we really needed thista prove it,” her own husband chuckled, cutting himself off with a slightly distressed burp. “I was the one who wound up with the Morn sickness when Aidan was pregnant, and I was up and down starting around the Witching Hour.”

“That’s when it hit Aerin, too,” the Silver Fox laughed. “So, that pretty much confirms it for me.”

“Then I’ma get outta here and let Dr. Kenda take over since it’s now an OB case,” Dr. Hill said with a laugh of her own. “Take care of yourselves, and I hope all works out well.”

Nodding, the young woman let her OB/GYN start the questioning she knew was about to happen, completely uncaring of even Ember being in the room for this part. She wasn’t surprised that she decided against doing anything as invasive as blood work or a pelvic exam, saying those things could wait till her first actual OB appointment. That’d be in about a month as it was, and it’d give them better results on her labs when they went to check hormone levels, not to mention a better idea of whether her cervix was trying to open prematurely or not, which’d be far more helpful.

With her responses recorded in her chart, Dr. Kenda turned her attention to the other part she’d noticed about her patient that she doubted even Bobby’d noticed. Her glassy eyes and fever coulda just been normal parts of pregnancy–what with the aforementioned temp fluctuations and lack of sleep–but she’d the feeling there was more going on than she was actually saying.

Aerin wincing and just barely biting back a cry of pain when her husband readjusting his right leg slightly, causing her to sock him in the thigh to make him hold still, only confirmed that. The Purdys were Naturally surprised, ’cuz they’d never seen her react like that to anything even remotely painful. Of course, her OB/GYN wanted her to strip for a short exam, even though she’d an idea about what was wrong already. That just drew a displeased groan from her patient, who rolled her eyes as she managed to scoot off the exam table.

“You’re seriously gonna make me do this?” she asked, sounding more like a petulant child.

“Ya know it’s better to keep an eye on this kinda thing, especially while pregnant,” Dr. Kenda gently chided her.

“Then I’d suggest anyone with less’n a cast Iron stomach avert their eyes,” the young woman grumbled, reaching for the waistband of the PJ britches she’d worn.

“Consider _my_ eyes averted,” Ash chuckled. “I don’t need to see my best friend-turned-sister nekkid.”

“I ain’t stripping that much, butt-munch,” Aerin retorted. “Hell, my entire ass ain’t even gonna be uncovered.”

No one in the room was immune to a short bout of laughter as she shoved down her britches just enough to reveal the top of her ass crack, at the worst.

“Just as I suspected,” the OB/GYN sighed, turning to record her finding in her chart.

“What the hell?” Bobby wore a horrified look as he glanced down at his wife’s back, her head in his lap.

“Ya ever had a boil before, love?” she countered after turning her head enough to be heard clearly.

“Yeah, but fuck–never where yours is,” the Silver Fox answered.

“Wait, what?” his younger counterpart asked.

“I wouldn’t suggest uncovering your eyes, hon,” Aidan warned him. “You’ll prolly wind up hurling again, if ya do.”

“Just think a giant zit that hurts like hell till it pops,” their friend told him. “And I’m not getting into _that_ part, ’cuz even _I_ don’t wanna think about it while I’m nauseous.”

“Let’s just say _gross_ is–well, a gross understatement,” her husband chuckled. “Doesn’t matter whether one of these things pops up on your ass, your crotch, or in your armpit.”

“Yeah, nope–just shut up while you’re ahead,” Ash chuckled. “I’d like what lil I nibbled on before we left the houseta _stay down,_ thank y’all.”

Letting out a laugh of her own, Dr. Kenda pulled on a pair of the latex gloves pretty much always used in any kinda physical exam. She tried to be as gentle as she could about palpating the swollen, angry flesh at the top of her patient’s ass crack, but she wasn’t surprised by the howl she muffled with her husband’s thigh. Her hips bucking in toward the exam table wasn’t much of a surprise either, considering how incredibly painful even the gentlest touch could be when dealing with a boil.

Even Bobby’d to look away when she did that, and he usually had a pretty strong stomach when it came to gross shit. After raising two brats, working on raising another two, all the tours he’d been on, and his various surgeries, he’d seen a lotta gross shit over the Years. But no matter who was suffering from it–whether it was himself or someone else–boils always took the cake in what topped that particular list for him.

Aidan’s jaw dropped as she watched the swollen spot seem to bulge even more as the OB/GYN hummed thoughtfully. She’d never suffered from such a thing, nor seen anyone else suffering from this in all her Years, so she was just as fascinated as she was grossed-out. Even as she watched in morbid fascination, she kept a hand over both her husband’s and daughter’s eyes, although for different reasons. She didn’t think Ember needed to see such a thing at such a young age, and she wanted to make sure Ash didn’t wind up losing his breakfast. Both seemed pretty content with that as the doctor said that, if she kept just enough pressure on it for a few moments, she might actually get it to pop before they left.

Despite being far from thrilled about the pain she knew she was in for, Aerin agreed to letting her try since she knew it’d bring her a shit-ton of relief. She just warned the Silver Fox that she was likely to bite his leg, ’cuz otherwise, she’d be grinding her teeth hard enough to crack one. He simply rubbed her upper back and told her that he didn’t care if she did or not, ’cuz he knew how painful this was for her. He’d rather her bite his leg–even in a very sensitive area–than watch her suffer till this fucker popped on its own, if it could be popped before they left.

“Here, Aidan,” Bobby said. He pulled the bandana he’d tied over his hair do-rag-style off and tossed it at her. “Keep it over his face, or he’ll definitely be hurling.”

“Wait, what?” The younger bassist’s mouth turned down in a frown, and his brows were no doubt knitted in confusion.

“Trust me when I say this is another one of the gross parts,” he chuckled. “I’ve had a few boils before, and they fuckin’ stink when they pop.”

“Oh, Gods–gimme whatever he just tossedja, babe!” Ash laughed, blindly grabbing for her hand.

“It can’t be _that_ bad,” the ginger giggled, handing her husband the bandana she’d been tossed.

“And you’re sadly mistaken,” Aerin grumbled. “’Cuz he ain’t kidding about these things stinkin’ to High Summerland and back.”

“Just keep your face against my leg so ya won’t have to smell as much of it,” the Silver Fox told her. “I’d rather not have to walk outta here in my boxers from ya puking on me, sweetheart.”

“As if ya haven’t gotten worse before,” she snickered, even as she buried her face again.

“On three,” Dr. Kenda interjected, thumbs poised. “One…two…”

_“Fanculo me_ – _sacro Juno, Regina degli Dei!”_ the young woman screeched into her husband’s thigh, her entire body stiffening like she was in the middle of a contraction again.

“Just breathe, sweetheart,” Bobby said, still rubbing her upper back as he leaned down to kiss the back of her head.

“Sweet Goddess, this hurts!” she snapped, trying not to wriggle away from her OB/GYN’s hands, even as she felt the gunk within starting to run down her ass crack.

“Oh, sweet Gods–ya weren’t kidding about it stinking!” Aidan veritably whimpered. “I daresay that’s the scent of pure, unadulterated Death–just without a corpse!”

“Does it really smell _that_ bad?” her husband asked, his voice a bit muffled from holding Bobby’s bandana over his face.

The Silver Fox laughed as he confirmed that it _did,_ indeed smell absolutely horrible, even lil Ember whimpering as she covered her own nose. He admitted that the scent was so bad, it was actually starting to make even _him_ a lil nauseous, and he’d been perfectly fine all Morn. One couldn’t argue with it being pretty bad, even if Aidan _was_ exaggerating a bit, when he made that particular admission.

Aerin all but moaned in what sounded like pleasured relief, her body slowly relaxing as her OB/GYN continued with squeezing the gunk outta that now-popped boil. It still hurt a bit, considering how irritated that area already was, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle since she’d dealt with worse. Besides, just trying to find a comfortable position to sit in till it _did_ finally pop on its own hurt worst than this, ’cuz she couldn’t manage to keep enough pressure on it to make it pop for a long enough period of Time. Somewhat being forced into holding still for someone elseta do it for her worked out better when she hadn’t numbed it with a hot shower.

Once she’d finally squeezed out as much of the bloody pus as she possibly could, Dr. Kenda got Bobby to hold a piece of gauze down while she changed her gloves. It’d be easier to clean the site and keep it from getting infected any worse than it already was, if she did that part with fresh gloves. By this point, even he and the ginger were covering their nosesta help cut down on how much of it they’d to smell, both glad to see that she was getting at least a lil relief.

“Now, that oughta help with getting rid of that fever, if it’s not just the normal temp fluctuations of pregnancy,” she said as she gently cleaned the remaining open wound.

“Yeah, now that it’s been popped and drained,” the young woman agreed with a soft giggle. “I knew we were gonna get told I was a lil feverish since I knew it was acting up again.”

“Again–whaddaya mean, _again?”_ Aidan asked.

“This thing first cropped up shortly after my eighteenth birthday,” she explained. “It didn’t resurface–quite literally–till I was around twenty-two, and after that, it seemsta crop up at least once a Year.”

“Sometimes, it’ll crop up as often as once a month, though,” Bobby interjected.

“But since I never know how long it’s gonna be between when it crops up, that’s why I didn’t mention it to Dr. Hill while we were going through all the Health screenings,” Aerin said, shrugging nonchalantly. “I’m not letting something that could crop up every month, or once in a _Blue Moon,_ stop me from helping my friends since there’s no telling when it could happen.”

“And since getting it popped and drained’ll allow it to Heal, there’s really nothing to worry about,” Dr. Kenda told them as she taped a fresh piece of gauze over the site. “She was pretty close when she described it as basically a giant zit earlier.”

“Yeah, a giant, really gross zit,” the ginger muttered, even though she couldn’t help a smile.

As she let her straighten so she could pull her PJ britches back up, the OB/GYN reiterated that Aerin needed to keep it clean as it Healed. Nodding, she said she was already well-aware of what needed to be done, and that she Intended to keep it cleaned with Saltwater. Not only would that help it fully drain and dry out as the Salt basically dehydrated that one area, but it’d actually promote Healing once it was ready for that stage. It might burn just as bad as alcohol or peroxide, but it was actually the best thing she could do for it at this point.

Since nothing else really seemed to be amiss with her or her barely-gestated pregnancy, the group was pretty much free to go. Considering how bad her Morn sickness with Zep and Zeta’d gotten, Dr. Kenda decided to go ahead and write her a scrip for that prescription Pepto Bismol now, rather than waiting around. Neither of them wanted to see it get so bad that she’d to be hospitalized for it again, even overnight, if they didn’t have to. And since Ash seemed to be feeling the misery just as badly, she decided to actually pull some strings for him, too. Due to not actually being her patient, she couldn’t write him his own scrip, but she _could_ write a scrip for a two-month supply for Aerin–who could just share it with him and let everyone else think her Morn sickness was a lil worse this Time around.

Before leaving the Fertility specialist’s office, they made the young woman’s first OB appointment with the OB/GYN’s office. Scheduled for a month from now, they should be able to tell how many she was carrying this Time around, not to mention confirm her pregnancy even further by actually finding at least a single heartbeat. Ash and Aidan couldn’t help the grins that split their faces at the Thought of getting to hear their baby’s heartbeat, and so soon into the pregnancy. They hadn’t gotten to hear Ember’s till closer to three months ’cuz it’d been so faint, even an ultrasound couldn’t pick up the Sound, despite catching the image of it.

Once free to head home and get some rest on the grounds that they call her, if they needed anything, Aerin sighed in further relief. She let Bobby pick her up baby-style again so that she could hold on with all four limbs, even when he didn’t have a hand under her rump to support her. The first thing on their agenda once they left was getting her scrip filled, all of them glad that Dr. Kenda’d specified for it to be put in two bottles when she’d written it. After getting a dose of that in her system–and even the younger bassist’s–they’d be heading home so they could hopefully grab some food and get some sleep. So far, all was going well–even if their first attempt seeming to actually work was a bit of a surprise–and they hoped it stayed that way.


	4. Four

_Nashville, Tennessee_

_January, 2027_

Four months into her pregnancy with what’d turned out to be twins for her friends, Aerin’d been feeling a lot better since around the Day of _Yule_. The Morn sickness’d hit her every bit as hard as with her first pregnancy, although it’d hit Ash a lil harder than it had when Aidan was pregnant, but their shared prescription thankfully helped with that. But while they were feeling better in that respect, the young woman still had a reason to be worried, all other circumstances considered.

Zep and Zeta’d recently caught a cold at school, and she knew her chances of getting sick were higher while she was pregnant. An expectant mother’s immune system compromised itself during pregnancy to avoid attacking any child she was carrying like any other foreign body. That left her more susceptible to getting sick, and while she wouldn’t want such a thing happening on a normal Day, she definitely didn’t now.

To that End, she’d tried to talk Duff outta flying down for a late _Yule_ celebration since he and his family hadn’t been able to make it on the actual Sabbat due to bad Weather. He’d insisted on coming down, saying that he wasn’t really worried about catching what the twins’d brought home from school. In fact, he even said he’d treat it like what she referred to as the _Godzilla Flu Outbreak_ of 2020, if she was really that worried about catching anything, herself. The blonde bassist didn’t wanna miss a chanceta see his younger wife again, if he didn’t have to, especially since he wanted to be filled in on everything of the past few months. He’d stay away if it was absolutely necessary, but otherwise, he wanted his Time with his second family while he could get it.

As it turned out, his flying down from Seattle for this late Sabbat celebration turned out to be a better thing than they were expecting. Despite her effortsta the contrary, Aerin’d wound up catching the twins’ cold, which Naturally made them feel bad, even though they were on the road to recovery. She made sure they knew that it wasn’t exactly their fault, given that they really couldn’t help that she’d caught this cold. But even still, she pretty much relegated herself to bed, both husbands keeping an eye and ear out for her more or less in shifts so they’d both get to sleep at some point.

Just as the clock struck one in the Morn on January eighth, the young surrogate mother woke herself up with a barking coughing fit. Bobby’d been asleep next to her, his blonde counterpart drifting in and out on the couch since he’d been watching TV while taking the Night shift, as it were. He almost immediately bolted upright when he heard the sudden coughing, his shared wife struggling to sit up more as she hacked. Even once he’d sat her up more, she couldn’t seem to quit coughing again, no matter how many wads she hacked up. Something told him that he needed to get help for her, that something was seriously wrong and only gonna get worse, if he didn’t. With that in mind, he managed to get up and get minimal clothes on before turning his attention to his feverish, still-hacking wife.

“C’mon, sweetheart–we need to getcha to the ER,” the Silver Fox murmured. Trying to get her dressed was akin to wrangling a sleepy toddler into their clothes.

“Don’t…feel good,” Aerin whimpered, her voice hoarse from all the coughing. “Can’t…breathe.”

“All the more reason to c’mon,” he told her, attempting to help her up.

The young woman moaned as she collapsed against him, dizziness overcoming her almost as soon as he got her up to her feet.

“Jesus Christ,” Bobby whispered, using a term he hadn’t used in quite a while as he hefted her up.

Darting for the stairs after he’d at least slipped some flip-flops on, he tried to get down them as quickly as he could without losing his balance or sliding down them. He didn’t want her to get hurt in his rush to get outta the house, but he wanted to get help for her sooner, rather than later. The only thing he did besides head for the front door was back track slightly into the great room, where he kicked Duff’s foot as a means of waking him since he’d no free hands.

“Huh–what?” the blonde bassist asked, waking with a snort.

“Keep an ear out for the kids,” he told him. “I gotta take Aerin to the ER.”

“Wait, what?” His musical counterpart bolted upright, his eyes flying open and taking in the sight of their wife in his arms.

“She can barely breathe when she actually managesta quit coughing,” Bobby told him, wincing as she started hacking again.

“Ya gonna call Ash on your way, or do ya want me to?” he asked, now far more alert as he winced sympathetically, himself.

“I’ll call or text him once I get her there,” the Silver Fox answered. “I don’t wanna worry him, if all she winds up with is a nebulizer treatment or something.”

“Yeah, no sense in that when just getting a nebulizer treatment’ll prolly have her released by Sunrise,” Duff agreed, nodding. “Consider the kids taken care of and get her some help, man.”

“Thanks again, dude.” Returning the nod, he took off for the front door, Aerin barely managing to turn her head so she wouldn’t hack another wad on him.

Even though a gun to his head couldn’t have gotten him to admit it as he settled in the driver’s seat of his truck once he’d gotten his wife settled, Bobby was terrified. While he’d seen her get sick with colds before, he’d never seen her get _this_ sick in all the Years they’d known each other. It was almost like an asthmatic in the middle of an attack, or like she’d a case of pneumonia going on instead of just a typical cold.

After driving like a Bat outta Hell, despite there having been a warning about possible black Ice out, he all but screeched to a halt at the emergency entrance of Saint Thomas West. Considering his own history with this particular hospital–not to mention its ED–he absolutely hated having to come here, but it was the closest hospital to their house. If there was one thing his wife needed desperately was medical help, whether she was pregnant or not, but especially since she was. He didn’t exactly have Time to be picky about which area hospital he took her to, considering it wasn’t just _her_ Life on the line, if she got any worse.

Running into the ER with her in his arms, the Silver Fox just barely held himself together the same way Aerin’d been said to when he was rushed in after his rectal prolapse. Freakin’ out, despite her current condition, wasn’t gonna do anything but cost Time they may or may not have before the worst happened. Thankfully, the charge nurse could tell this wasn’t a caseta play around with as soon as he came through the doors and started barking orders.

“How much can ya tell us?” she asked as he settled the young woman on a gurney she and her staff hauled over.

“She’s thirty-three Years old, and sixteen-to-eighteen weeks pregnant,” Bobby answered. “Lemme go move my truck to an actual parking spot before it gets towed, and I’ll fill ya in on anything else.”

“Let’s get her to a trauma bay while he’s doing that,” the charge nurse said.

Nodding, the team already working on his wife started wheeling her back as he darted back out the door.

“B-Bobby,” Aerin whimpered, another round of hacking starting as she reached out for his retreating form.

By the Time he Returned from moving his truck, the attending’d come in to examine the young woman, who was so delirious from her fever that she was fighting every attempt to touch her. The Silver Fox didn’t let the man trying to bar him from the trauma bay stop him from heading up to the head of the gurney she was laying on where she could see him. Once he was within her sight, she almost immediately started to Calm down to the point of seemingly not noticing anyone touching her.

It was only after he’d gotten her Calmed down that Bobby turned his attention to the team surrounding her and filling them in, just like he’d promised. As far as he knew, his wife didn’t have anything wrong with her that shoulda left her in this state, but he didn’t try to hide her being a former smoker. No doubt any lung damage from her decade or so of smoking before conceiving their twins wasn’t helping her right now.

Aerin managed to pull herself outta her delirium enough to say that asthma ran on her Birth Creature’s side of the family, but as far as she knew, she’d never had it. She couldn’t really tell them anything beyond that, as bad as her fever’d gotten–which was damn near bad enough to fry an Egg on her forehead. Thankfully, they’d managed to find a good enough vein in the back of her left hand to start an IV in, and they were already flooding that IV with some high-powered antibiotics and something to bring her fever down. Noticing such measures already in place made her husband heave a sigh of relief as he leaned down to kiss her flaming forehead, but he’d absolutely no Intention of leaving her side anytime soon.

By eight that Morn, the young woman’d been admitted to the intensive care unit, which was more of a precautionary measure than not. She’d been diagnosed as having a case of mild pneumonia, which only seemed much worse ’cuz of her pregnancy and status as a former smoker. It wouldn’t have seemed as bad, if she’d had only one of those markers or the other, rather than both simultaneously. However, Dr. Kenda and the attending who’d started out treating her’d told Bobby that he’d done the right thing by treating things as if she were at Death’s door, considering said pregnancy.

She’d been given an albuterol treatment through a nebulizer down in the ER to help open up her lungs, considering that it functioned as a bronchodilator. Her OB/GYN’d deemed it safe enough to use, despite her being pregnant, considering that she didn’t stay on it long-term. Only if she stayed on it long-term could there be potential problems for both her and the babies she carried, but especially the babies.

Once she’d been settled in the room she was moved to, the Silver Fox’d shot a text to Ash since he was both said babies’ father _and_ one of her Powers of Attorney. He hadn’t wanted to wake his much-younger counterpart in the middle of the Night, or even just barely before Dawn, unless he really needed to. It was already a sure-Fire guarantee he’d freak out slightly as it was, so there was no reason to make him freak out any worse than he absolutely had to.

“Bobby.”

Jumping as he woke with a snort when someone gently shook his shoulder, his eyes flew open before he blinked sleepily. “Huh–wha–”

“Relax, man.” Ash chuckled at his reaction as he bolted upright. “It’s just me.”

“I’d ask _Me, who?,_ but I recognize the voice too well, even though I’m blind as a Bat right now,” the Silver Fox chuckled softly.

“How’s she doing?” he asked, glancing toward the bed that Dominated the hospital room he was in.

“A lot better than last Night, for sure,” Bobby answered with a yawn. “At least she’s able to breathe well enough to sleep now.”

“So, what exactly happened?” the younger bassist asked, shoving his hair outta his face as he settled in the other chair that was in the room.

“She woke up around one with a barking coughing fit and just couldn’t quit coughing for more than thirty seconds at a Time,” he answered. “Since she seemed to be gasping for Air the few Times she _did_ manage to quit coughing, I figured it was a good idea to bring her to the ER.”

“Yeesh, sounds nasty,” Ash said with a wince.

“Eh, she’s a mild case of pneumonia,” the Silver Fox informed him. “The only reason it seemed so much worse was her pregnancy combined with being a former smoker.”

“So, the babies’re still doing all right?” he asked, looking like he was tempted to gently rub her belly, but didn’t dare touch her while she was actually asleep.

“Yeah, they’re fine,” Bobby answered, nodding. “They only put her on the fetal monitor to be damn sure, especially with the albuterol treatments since I got her here.”

The younger bassist looked confused since he wasn’t familiar with that particular drug, let alone its uses or side effects. Chuckling softly, he explained that the main side effects that Aerin seemed to suffer were the increased heart rate and a slight tremor. That was due to the bronchodilator technically being a stimulant, but those side effects’d seemed to slack off and disappear over the course of an hour or so.

Due to the fact that it seemed to have a tendency to be passed through the placenta during pregnancy, Dr. Kenda’d wanted her on the fetal monitor to monitor the babies’ heart rates, too. Like the young woman’s, both their heart rates’d spiked at one-eighty for about an hour, but had since dropped back to their normal rate of one-fifty or so. They’d also seemed to get a lil jittery during that hour, seemingly fidgeting as they just couldn’t seem to stop squirming, judging by the young woman’s fidgeting in her sleep. Bobby hadn’t been able to feel any movements when he’d laid his hand on her belly, but that didn’t mean _she_ hadn’t felt them.

“They only put her here in the ICU as a precaution,” he continued, gently grabbing her hand when she started to fidget in her sleep again. “Since she’s pregnant, she could easily get a lot worse before she starts getting better.”

“And with precious cargo on board, no matter who they belong to, they wanna be able to treat her faster, if she needs it,” Ash mused, nodding as he started to get it.

“Exactly,” the Silver Fox agreed with a nod of his own. “That’s why I didn’t call ya when I first brought her in, or once they’d gotten her settled up here.”

“Hey, the text’s appreciated enough,” he chuckled. “’Cuz ya coulda _not_ tried to get in touch with us at all and just let us stay in the Dark till _after_ she’d gotten discharged.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to do that, even if these two belonged to her and I instead,” Bobby laughed. “But with them being yours and Aidan’s–yeah, I definitely didn’t have it in me to _not_ at least try getting in touch with y’all.”

“Besides, I’m kinda glad that I woke up to a text instead,” the younger bassist admitted. “We were sleeping so good for once that I can’t guarantee we wouldn’t have gotten pissed about such a wake-up call, even if it quickly shifted to worry about Aerin.”

He couldn’t help another laugh as he leaned down to kiss his wife’s forehead when she moaned before starting to cough again. Whispering sweet nothings and remindersta just breathe, he gently Comforted her till she settled enough to breathe just a hair more rapidly than normal. Straightening slightly, he saw her eyes flutter open and wasn’t surprised when they seemed every bit as glazed as they’d been overnight and earlier in the Morn.

Reaching for the _Call_ button on her bed rail since it felt like her fever was coming back, Bobby gave her a tender smile as he gestured toward the other chair next to her bed. The young woman glanced over, a slight smile crossing her own face as she managed to wave when she realized Ash was sitting next to her. She didn’t try to grab his hand, ’cuz even in her delirious state, she knew she was pretty contagious, even through touch.

Moments later, a nurse entered the room to answer the page made by the _Call_ button, and she almost immediately tried to run the younger bassist off. Aerin veritably screeched as much as she could, actually grabbing his hand this Time as she shot the woman a stubborn look. She already hadn’t liked this particular nurse as it was, and this was what she considered the last straw with her behavior. In fact, she Intended to have her husband talk to her doctor about having this nurse put elsewhere, or she was gonna start throwing as much of a bitch-fit as she’d the Energy for.

“Hey, lay off, lady,” Bobby growled. “He’s not only one of her Powers of Attorney, but the father of the babies she’s carrying–he’s _every right_ to be here since it’s not exceeding the visitor limit.”

“Wait, I thought she was married to _you,”_ the nurse said, looking confused.

“Surrogate,” Ash responded dryly, giving her a dirty look of his own. “It’s not safe for my wife to carry due to an accident a few Years ago, so Aerin offered to carry for us.”

The woman looked appropriately contrite at the softly-delivered reprimanding from him.

“Yeah, I’m her husband, but if it were me in his shoes, I’d wanna know about something like this,” the Silver Fox told her. “Now, if you’re quite done judging us, it feelsta me like her fever’s starting to come back.”

The nurse looked like she was ready to snap at him about his accusation of judgment against her.

“Get the fuck outta here and go find someone willing to do their fuckin’ job,” Aerin snapped before either of the men at her side could say a word. “I ain’t likedja since ya got assigned to me this Morn, bitch!”

“I’d get outta here while I could, if I were you,” Bobby warned her. “She’s not gonna give a shit if she’s in for pneumonia, or to recover from surgery.”

“Piss her off when she ain’t feeling good, and she goes on the warpath,” the younger bassist added. “And judging by that, you’ve done _something_ to piss her off at one point or another.”

“Settle down, sweetheart–just breathe,” he crooned, gently brushing her hair back as she worked herself into another coughing fit. “We’re not gonna let anyone ya don’t get along with in here.”

The young woman couldn’t help another barking coughing fit, which actually left her choosing not to breathe for about thirty seconds once she was finally able to stop.

Naturally, Ash was concerned about her when she failed to take a breath, but still seemed to be with it–and not just ’cuz she was currently carrying his children. First and foremost, this woman was his friend, and she’d been a far better one to him than most folks he’d called his friends for at least half his Life. Sure, he wanted his babiesta stay healthy, but he knew that wasn’t gonna happen, if the woman carrying them didn’t–and it didn’t matter to him whether that woman was his friend, or his wife.

Thankfully, Aerin drew another breath within thirty to forty-five seconds, although she winced and let out a groan as she exhaled that breath. Bobby chuckled and gently squeezed his shoulder when he saw the look on his face, telling him that was a pretty normal response for her. When she got to coughing that hard, she usually had to wait that short amount of Time to be able to take another breath without feeling like she was being stabbed. And Naturally, when one’s chest and back were hurting like hers no doubt were, a groan with the exhalation of their next breath was pretty much to be expected.

Assured that she wasn’t gonna croak on them anytime soon, the youngest bassist told her that he hoped she felt better soon. Since he didn’t wanna risk catching whatever’d landed her here, he was gonna go get decontaminated before heading back home to Aidan and Ember. His friend managed a weak smile as she told him to just stay home for the rest of the week unless she flat-lined or something before bidding her goodbyes.


	5. Five

It took a week for any of the doctors in charge of Aerin’s care to deem her well enough to be discharged, which wasn’t the least bit surprising. To be quite honest, Bobby’d been surprised when they’d decided to move her from the ICU to a typical recovery room within three Days. His wife’d simply grinned like a Cheshire Cat till they were left alone again, then said that she’d always had a crazy-strong immune system like this. She’d also apparently been popping vitamin C religiously since she knew that being pregnant in the middle of cold and flu Season left her more vulnerable than normal.

During the week that she’d been confined to her hospital bed, Duff’d basically thrown up two huge middle fingers and told his band–even Slash–to drop down and worship him like a God, as it were. The Silver Fox’d asked him to keep an eye on Zep and Zeta the Night he’d rushed their shared wife to the hospital in the first place, and he loved them like his own. He wasn’t about to leave them alone since their siblings were busy with babies of their own now, nor was he gonna send them to Ash’s and Aidan’s while they were even mildly sick.

Naturally, Axl’d been pissed to get that big ol’ _Fuck you, and the high Horse ya rode in on, too_ from his bassist, which’d spiraled into him tracking the blonde down. With the Intent to ream him out in person since he wouldn’t say _why_ he wasn’t doing anything band-related at the moment, he’d forced Slash into taking him to wherever the blonde bassist’d disappeared to.

Course, Slash hadn’t given in to the ginger front man’s demands without calling him and talking it over with him first. He wasn’t about to bring what amounted to a raging lunatic to the Dalls’ house and around their kids with absolutely no warning, if only so they wouldn’t get hurt. But after a three-way call, even Bobby’d told him to just bring Axl on out, ’cuz he prolly wouldn’t believe them without seeing what he could with his own eyes. His only stipulation was that he be removed from the premises, if they requested it, ’cuz if he started upsetting his wife while she was still recovering, he was gonna make Hog food outta him. Laughing, his blonde counterpart’d sworn to join that particular endeavor from his End of the call, if the ginger front man did that.

_DING DONG!_

Considering that Bobby and Aerin were still waiting on the young woman’s official discharge paperwork, Duff knew damn good and well it was most likely his band mates at the door. Zach and Zoe both’d keysta their dad’s house, so they pretty much never rang the doorbell since they could just let themselves in. To that End, he knew he’d to answer said door quickly, or the caller was just gonna practically lay on the doorbell and wind up waking the twins from their nap too early.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Axl breathed, his blue eyes widening when the door opened to actually reveal his band mate. “All right, Slash–hard as this is for me, I gotta apologize since I didn’t believe ya.”

The lead guitarist simply chuckled as he tipped his infamous top hat to the blonde giant. “How’re ya doing, man?”

“Eh, hasn’t been me that was sick,” Duff chuckled, stepping back to let them in. “Just keep it down, or I’m letting y’all figure out how to Silence the screeching and whining.”

“Wait, what?” The ginger’s brow furrowed in confusion as they entered the foyer and he closed the door behind them.

“Babysitting for some folks that’re pretty closeta me,” he answered with a grin. “And said boogers’re currently in the middle of their nap, so if ya awake the Kraken–”

“Ya better be ready to go down with your ship,” Slash laughed, careful to keep his voice down. “That explains it, though, ’cuz I thought this house was a lil _too_ quiet, considering what I saw and heard before.”

“Yeah, they’re down for their nap, and their parents aren’t here at the moment,” the blonde explained. “But said parents’ll prolly be home soon, if all goes the way we want it to.”

“So, what’s been going on?” he asked as they headed for the great room, Axl looking around in surprised Awe. “I know ya haven’t said anything outta Respect, but…”

“I know you’re curious, and they actually cleared me to fill y’all in–on the grounds thatcha keep your mouths shut outside this house,” Duff told him. _“She_ still doesn’t want our relationship out in the open any more than I do, and with various other factors added to it…”

“Huh–what?” The lead guitarist grinned as he used the inside joke he’d since been Enlightened to by the young woman, who’d once had to explain it to Ash.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he laughed, settling on the couch.

Once the ginger front man promised to keep his mouth shut on the grounds that he’d be leaving the house with three less body parts, if he didn’t–and not ’cuz of either of his band mates–he started to explain everything. Starting with her offer of surrogacy almost as soon as she’d landed from their honeymoon trip and working his way up, he covered the current goings-on, unsurprised that Slash winced. It was at that point that he’d to backtrack a bit and explain _how_ he and Aerin’d wound up together, despite having already been married.

As he listened to the explanation, Axl started to get why the blonde bassist’d been so steadfast in refusing to do anything band-related lately. Not only did he obviously love this young woman, but he wasn’t about to leave a pair of kindergarteners on their own when nobody else could watch them. He’d been volunteered for the job by their daddy in a way, but he’d have offered to, even if that _hadn’t_ been the case that Night last week.

Duff didn’t really have a chanceta say much else before he heard a key in the front door, which prompted him to rise from his seat. He doubted it’d be Ash and/or Aidan, as much as they tried to cut down on their existing daughter’s exposure to viruses, despite her immunity not being as bad as even a couple Years ago. Besides, considering the Silver Fox’s call an hour or so ago, he was pretty sure it was him and the young woman in question. With that in mind, he didn’t want his older counterpart struggling with trying to get their wife and their stuff into the house when he was damn well capable of helping him.

“Thanks, man,” Bobby chuckled as he took said shared wife. He’d been struggling to unlock the door while cradling her, their bags hanging from his shoulders.

“Ya ain’t gotta thank me,” the blonde bassist told him. “What kinda husband would I be–legal, Spiritual, or otherwise–if I _didn’t_ do what I could to help?”

“True enough,” he agreed. “Get her to the bathroom while I’m getting our shit unpacked–she was complaining of a good kick to the bladder as I pulled into the driveway.”

“On it,” Duff laughed, turning for the stairs. “Let’s getcha settled, hon.”

“Good, ’cuz it’s getting hard to hold it,” Aerin said, her voice a bit hoarse as she squirmed in his arms.

Careful to make sure he didn’t compress her torso too much, he headed up the grand staircase toward the master suite. While they were vague at this point, he remembered all too well how miserable Susan’d been during her pregnancies, and memories of her taking sudden kicksta the bladder made him move a bit faster than he normally would. Not so fast that he’d risk sliding or otherwise falling, whether he was barefoot or wearing socks, but fast enough to keep his shared wife from pissing all over him.

Once she was ready to go downstairs, Aerin’d to all but lay her blonde husband out so he’d let her walk while leaning on him instead of trying to carry her again. She was capable of walking, even if getting to the great room was pushing her limit at the moment, and she was incredibly stubborn. After all, she’d walked around with cases of bronchitis so bad, she’d to hit her Birth Creature’s nebulizer at least twice a Day while a heavy smoker and survived just fine. Just ’cuz she was carrying her best friends’ children didn’t mean she was paralyzed or otherwise incapable, and besides, she knew she’d to get back into the swing of Life eventually. Sitting on her ass till the Day–or Night–she popped with these two wasn’t the way to rebuild her strength and Stamina.

Upon getting to the foyer, the young woman couldn’t help a smile as she caught the Sounds of her own babies babbling a mile a minute. From the sounds of it, they were excited to see Daddy again, whom they were telling all about Dreams they’d had of living on other Planets during naptime. It sounded like Zep’d been Dreaming of living on Mars, Zeta on Neptune, but their words were all blurring together, so it was hard to tell.

“Holy shit.”

Pretty winded from the walk downstairs, she barely paid any mind to Axl Rose, who sat next to Slash on their couch.

“Yeah, didn’t think you’d be seeing _her_ again, huh?” Duff chuckled as he helped her settle into her chosen favorite recliner.

“Not after the way she put me to shame onstage that Night,” the ginger front man laughed. “I guess what’s even more surprising is finding out that she’s your second wife.”

“So, he…and I…hit it off…as much as…Bobby and…I did,” Aerin panted as she settled, somehow managing a chuckle of her own.

“I’d ask how you’re feeling, girlie, but I think the way you’re panting says it all,” Slash said, having gotten up to help his band mate get her settled.

It took her a few moments, but she soon caught her breath. “Eh, other than feeling like I got run over by a fully-loaded tour bus when I walk too far for the moment, I’m not doing half-bad,” she told him. “At least I can get to the bathroom on my own without practically dying.”

_“Mammina!”_ the twins squealed, darting outta the kitchen with their daddy on their heels.

“Hey, no glomping _Mammina,”_ Bobby gently admonished them. “She’s still working on getting betters, and besides, chu no wantsta hurts chu cuzzies, do chu?”

_“Nuuuu!”_ they responded in unison, emphatically shaking their heads.

“Chu can’t glomp meh, but dat _nuuuu_ means _Mammina’s nuuuu_ up for huggles!” Aerin laughed.

Zep and Zeta giggled as they crawled into her lap to hug her, both grinning as they rubbed her belly.

“Babies otays, right?” the lil boy asked.

“Kicking and squirming up a Storm right now,” she answered with a grin of her own.

“So, you’re really your friends’ surrogate?”

Looking up and straight into Axl’s blue eyes, the young woman nodded as she let her own kids snuggle against her. Duff filled her in on what he’d already explained as she gently readjusted their heads a bit, considering how tender her breasts’d been ever since the embryos’d implanted and started driving her hormones through the roof. With that done, she simply looked back to the ginger man and said that since her blonde husband couldn’t seem to make up his mind about undergoing a sperm retrieval of his own, she saw no reason _not_ to help her friends in the meantime. Besides, it allowed her to enjoy the good parts of pregnancy while giving her an excuseta be a bitch and get away with it, if she really wanted to, without having to keep the babies.

Said ginger front man couldn’t help a laugh when he looked at it that way, agreeing that it might be enough to convince even him to be a surrogate, if he’d been a woman. Considering that he obviously wasn’t and never would be in this Lifetime, he was quick to shut down that particular avenue of conversation once they’d all gotten a good laugh outta it. There wasn’t much of a need to discuss it beyond that since such a possibility wouldn’t exist before they were all dead and gone, as far as he was concerned.

Not long afterward, Aerin wasn’t surprised to look up when she heard the front door open and see Ember running in with a gleeful cry. Her parents were right behind her, Ash keeping an older woman tucked against his side as he carefully escorted her. Aidan laughed as she made her way over to her for a hug of her own, her grin somehow growing wider as she assured herself that she really was okay. In having her daughter to worry about, she hadn’t gotten to see her friend while she was still in the hospital, and besides, it was bad enough that her husband had been exposed.

“Aerin, I wantcha to meet my mom, Nell,” she told her, gesturing to the older woman Ash’d been escorting. “Ma, this is my friend Aerin, the one I was telling ya about.”

“So, _you’re_ the one who offered yourself up as a sacrifice,” Nell chuckled.

“Yeah, that I am,” the young woman answered with a chuckle of her own. “Like I was just telling the ginger guy before y’all got here, my second husband couldn’t make up his mind about having his own sperm retrieval done, so I figured why the hell not?”

“Well, why not indeed, if you’ve the proper, functioning organs and it’s safe for ya to carry?” Nell laughed.

“Oh, definitely safe for me to, in comparison to Aidan,” she told her. “I only came down with whatever my twins caught at school and got it worse _’cuz_ I’m pregnant on top of a decade of smoking at one point.”

“Ya don’t smoke _now,_ do ya?” the older woman asked, looking surprised to hear that.

“Nope, just vape every once in a while,” Aerin answered, shaking her head. “I quit smoking a month into my pregnancy with these two, ’cuz just a couple drags’d have me hauling ass for the Porcelain God.”

“Now she just vapes, ’cuz the Gods pity the fool that _doesn’t_ give this woman her caffeine and nicotine,” Ash chuckled. “But she’s cut back on even that ever since she offered herself up, which I can handle, so I’m proud of her.”

“Me, too,” his wife agreed solemnly. “Course, I get the feeling she woulda, even if she _weren’t_ carrying for us.”

“Prolly so, ’cuz nicotine’s nicotine,” the young woman agreed. “And if it makes me too nauseous in one form, why wouldn’t it make me too nauseous in another, if I’d something like the Morn sickness kicking my ass?”

After filling her friend’s mom in on the goings-on of the past few months, Aerin brought them all up to speed on hers and the babies’ Health. She was on the mend, although it was a bit slower than she’d have liked due to being pregnant, and both babies were perfectly fine. No lingering damage was done by the albuterol treatments she’d been given to open up her lungs, as proven by the ultrasound she’d been given before leaving the hospital that Morn.

Just like they’d done ever since her pregnancy was confirmed, Ash and Aidan both swore they didn’t wanna know the genders, which just made her grin. She’d been too curious _not_ to let Dr. Kenda tell her, so she already knew what she was Blessing her friends with, in terms of genders. However, she was good enough at keeping Secrets that she hadn’t even told Bobby, and she wasn’t gonna, if he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

Even still, they both said they were picking out at least one name for each gender, ’cuz while they knew both babies might be the same gender, they might wind up with one of each. They might be stubborn about not wanting to know till the big Day, but that didn’t mean they’d to go into battle unarmed, so to speak. At least when said big Day got here, they wouldn’t have to just pull random names outta their asses and hope they sounded good. That was the approach she’d taken to naming her own babies, and it’d worked out pretty well for her–they didn’t see why it wouldn’t work out for them, too.

“Personally, I’m leaning toward Lyric for a girl,” the youngest bassist admitted. “I want a musical name in there somewhere, ’cuz–well, c’mon. Look at my Primary career, for the Love of the Gods!”

“Personally, I gotta veto that one unless you’re gonna tack an _A_ onto the End,” Aerin chuckled.

“Why’s that?” her ginger friend asked curiously.

“’Cuz the only baby I associate the name Lyric with is the _son_ of Shinedown front man, Brent Smith,” she chuckled. “It sounds too masculine to me, whereas _Lyrica_ sounds more feminine.”

“Ain’t that the name of some kinda drug, though?” Ash asked, his brow furrowing.

“Eh, technically one for the treatment of nerve damage,” the young woman admitted. “All right, fine–in that case…”

He and Aidan looked at her as expectantly as all the other adults.

“What kinda naming theme were y’all going for?” Aerin asked. “’Cuz let’s face it–I’ve a knack with picking names, if y’all recall Zep’s and Zeta’s full names.”

“Mostly Irish, if we can,” he answered. “I mean, we’ve a lotta Irish Ancestry between the two of us, so…”

“Doesn’t mean we’re not open to names from other origins, though,” his wife was quick to add.

“Seriously, considering the middle name we picked to go with Lyric,” Ash chuckled.

Cocking a brow, the young woman simply waited till the pair Enlightened her, both grinning like absolute fools as they did. They’d decided to use her own name as a middle name, ’cuz she’d gone well more than above and beyond for them, as far as they were concerned. It was definitely flattering to find out that they’d actually consider naming a daughter after her, although like a typical Air Witch, she was mortified by them admitting it in front of others.

Their second feminine pick so far was Trinity Eleanor, the middle name there being after Aidan’s mother since they were pretty close. Now her preferring to be introduced as Nell made a lot more sense, but she still couldn’t help scrunching her nose at that particular name choice. Both her friends cracked up at her reaction, considering how far left of Center they knew she was, which included baby name choices.

On the other hand, their first pick for a boy’s name was Declan Ashley, which certainly eluded to the Irish Ancestry from at least one side of the family Tree. Their second pick for a boy’s name was Liam Aidan, given that Aidan was actually a unisex name, no matter how exactly it was spelled. Still, that second pick made Aerin scrunch her nose since those were just too old-fashioned of picks for her, but then again, these weren’t her babies. She could throw out suggestions all Day long, but when it was all said and done, she knew those suggestions might not actually get used.

“Well, there’s all kindsa different names out there that could elude to the Irish Ancestry,” she said. “Then again, there’s always Scotch names that almost sound Irish, if ya dunno their origins, and the general Celtic names, too.”

“Like what?” Ash asked curiously. “’Cuz nothing’s come to mind for us beyond those.”

“Well, there’s Adair, which’s a Scotch Gaelic name that means _from the Oak-Tree ford,”_ the young woman answered. “And that’s actually pretty similar to your own name.”

“How’s that, though?” Aidan asked, cocking her head thoughtfully.

“’Cuz feminine or masculine, Ashley’s an Old English name that means _one from the Ash-Tree Meadow,”_ Aerin chuckled. “Doesn’t matter whether he was named after a _Gone With the Wind_ character or not, when ya think about it like that.”

The couple couldn’t help a laugh any more than her husbands could as they admitted that she was right.

“If one’s a boy and even half as much like his daddy, I’d go with Connor as a possibility,” she told them once they Calmed down, a grin stretching her face.

“Oh, Gods–dare we ask why?” Duff looked almost as wary as the parents-to-be.

“’Cuz it’s an Irish name that means _high desire,”_ the young woman snickered, laughing as that got a throw pillow launched at her by the youngest bassist.

“Hey, you’re just as much a monster in that department!” Ash retorted, mocking Anger.

“Oh, you’ve no idea there, son,” Bobby laughed, their blonde counterpart nodding his agreement. “Especially when she’s pregnant.”

“How many Times has she tried to give us both heart attacks in the last four months, alone?” said blonde chuckled.

“Shut up,” Aerin laughed. “Y’all know y’all love your personal Rocket Queen, especially since she’ll letcha roll her over and rock her till the Mornin’ Light.”

“Ya definitely got us there, sweetheart,” the Silver Fox laughed.

Another couple of her personal favorites were Dallas, which was actually a Celtic name that meant _dweller by the Waterfall,_ Kegan–which was an Irish Gaelic name meaning _lil Fiery one_ –and Logan, a Celtic name that meant _from the hollow_. Her favorites for girls that fell into the Irish-eluding category were Rylea, which meant _Courageous,_ Rowan–which was actually a Scotch-Irish name meaning _lil redhead_ –and Sloane, an Irish name that meant _raider_. Beyond that, any suggestions she could come up with came from elsewhere in Europe for the most part, although a couple–like Sahara–were more Middle Eastern, or even Norse.

When they delved into names outside anything Irish or otherwise Celtic, she’d a couple that came to mind that fit a more musical baby right off the bat. Lyra was a Greek name that meant _lyre,_ which could cover the Music angle as well as it could Astronomy and Mythology. Ash and Aidan both cocked their brows at her, wondering how on Earth she’d come up with those latter two associations, which made her grin.

Zep giggled as he scooted outta his mama’s lap and darted over to her special bookcase, pausing just long enough to peruse its contents carefully. Finding the book he sought, he pulled it free of the shelf it was on and darted back over to her, letting her take it so he could climb back into her lap. They all glanced at the cover, which seemed to depict a Star-filled Sky either right before Nightfall, or right before Sunrise, with what seemed like the overlay of a Dragon behind it. What surprised them, though, was its apparent title– _Star Magick: The Wisdom of the Constellations for Pagans and Wiccans_. Maybe they shouldn’t have been so surprised, though, as into Astrology as she seemed to be–she was bound to have at least one Pagan-oriented book on the matter.

“Bordered by Cygnus the Swan, Draco the Dragon, and Hercules the Strongman, this Constellation represents the lyre of Orpheus, the musician and poet of Greek Mythology,” Aerin read after cracking open the book and flipping pages till she found the section she sought. “For those who dunno, a lyre’s a small harp–according to some Myths, Hermes invented it from a Tortoise Shell, which Apollo then gave to Orpheus.”

“Okay, now I get the relation to Music,” Ash said thoughtfully, his wife nodding her agreement beside him.

“Orpheus was so talented that he Enchanted the Birds and tamed Wild Animals with his Music. When his wife Eurydice was killed, he descended to the Underworld to retrieve her–there, he Charmed Hades–Pluto in Roman Mythology–with his Music and was allowed to leave with Eurydice, but only under the condition that they couldn’t look back,” she continued. “As such stories go, Temptation was too great, and one glance back sealed their Fates.”

“Naturally,” Axl said with a snort as he rolled his eyes.

“Another legend tells how the Thracian Maenads, female followers of Dionysus in Northeastern Greece, murdered Orpheus ’cuz he’d failed to Honor the God of Wine,” the young woman read after his minor outburst, even though she agreed with him. “According to one version of this story, his lyre was thrown into a River, and Zeus–who sent an Eagle to retrieve it–placed the instrument and the Bird among the Stars. Another version says that the Muses carried the lyre to Heaven.”

“That explains the tie to Astronomy, then,” Nell chuckled.

“As much as the old legends explain its relation to Mythology,” Aerin agreed with a chuckle of her own. “Lyra’s sometimes associated with the Greek poet and musician Arion, whose Melodies attracted a Dolphin that ultimately saved his Life. Delphinus represents the Dolphin, and this story’s told in the entry for that Constellation in Chapter Six.”

“No Wonder you’re so into this stuff,” the youngest bassist laughed. “I almost wanna snatch that book outta your hands and take it home with me.”

“Stealing my books–Witchy or otherwise–might getcha killed,” she warned him with a mischievous grin. “Borrowing with permission, on the other hand…”

The entire group cracked up, making her having to wait out their laughter before she finished out this Constellation’s entry.

“On old Star maps, Lyra was often depicted as an Eagle carrying the harp–however, it was sometimes depicted as just the Bird, itself,” the young woman read after they’d settled down. “To the Arabs, Lyra was the _Swooping or Falling Eagle_ –the Aquila Constellation was their _Flying Eagle._ In India, Lyra was associated with the Vulture instead of the Eagle, and was called the _Falling Vulture_ –in the British Isles, the Anglo-Saxons and Celts considered Lyra as a harp and knew it as the _Hero’s Harp_ and _King Arthur’s Harp."_

“So, it’s not just of Greek Mythology, then,” Aidan mused, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Far from it, considering the wide range it can be seen from,” her friend answered. “Ptolemy equated the Stars of this Constellation with Venus and Mercury. Through the Ages, Lyra’s been associated with magick and spell work.”

As she closed her book for the Time being, Aerin admitted that she got the feeling that even the equation with Mercury’d be accurate for a baby girl they chose that name for. She’d the feeling she was gonna pop closeta a month early, and that was ’cuz she remembered popping roughly a month early with her own twins. If that turned out to be the case, her friends’ babies’d be Geminis, according to the twelve-sign Zodiac she’d once told them about.

No matter what system they used, the Constellation of Gemini was ruled by Mercury as much as the Constellation of Virgo was. However, Virgo was also ruled by the asteroid Ceres, as well as another Celestial body by the name of Chiron. Ceres was the Roman Grain Goddess, whose Greek equivalent was Demeter, while Chiron–which was mentioned in an earlier entry of her book–was a teacher and a Healer.

Before anyone could start thinking so hard that their gears ground to a complete halt, though, the young woman laid said book aside and got them back on track. Another of her personal favorites when it came to Musical baby names was _Cadenza,_ which was literally the Italian word for _Cadence_. That wasn’t the only Italian word-name that’d a tie back to Music, if Ash truly had his heart set on some kinda musical name for one or both of the twins. She just didn’t feel like wracking her brains much beyond that, considering she’d just gotten discharged from the hospital only a couple hours ago. No one could really blame her for feeling that way, but her friends certainly had to admit that she’d given them some food for Thought, if nothing else.

Given that he’d been working on it the whole Time, it wasn’t long before Bobby’d finished cooking up a mess of Chicken and Rice that’d feed half an Army or so. Everybody was invited to stay for dinner, or he wouldn’t have made that much, but they all agreed that they wouldn’t stay much longer after that. Aerin needed her rest, no matter how they looked at it, or she’d never completely recuperate from what’d landed her in the hospital. Besides, expecting mothers–biological or surrogate–were always more tired than normal, and they didn’t wanna bar her from getting that rest, even if she hadn’t recently been sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna say that I take absolutely no credit for the passage about the Constellation of Lyra that Aerin was reading in this chapter, other than having typed it up in a Word Doc months ago. It really did come from a copy of _Star Magick–The Wisdom of the Constellations for Pagans and Wiccans_ by Sandra Kynes, which I've a copy of. That's not the only book by her that I've got, but I digress since I didn't mention any others by her in this chapter. LOL!
> 
> Anywhore, here's a link to the book's listing on Amazon for a picture of the cover, for anyone interested in a visual. I tried to keep the description to a minimum, but still as accurate as possible, so hopefully I got it pretty close.  
> ~Firefly
> 
> Link to _Star Magick_ –https://www.amazon.com/Star-Magic-Wisdom-Constellations-Wiccans/dp/0738741698


	6. Six

As her pregnancy progressed, it wasn’t uncommon for Bobby to wake up alone and find his wife in the living room, zonked on the couch from where she’d fallen asleep watching TV after the babies kept her up late. It also wasn’t uncommon for him to wake up for a Midnight piss–he’d to love getting old like that–and wind up finding her in the kitchen, grazing on whatever looked good at any given Time. Some of her choices were weird or downright gross–like the Night he’d come down to check on her, only to find her dipping raw Carrots in some Chocolate Ice cream she’d let melt a lil bit with Chicken broth to wash it down. He’d been grossed-out by that particular combination, but he hadn’t been able to help a laugh as she just shrugged nonchalantly and continued munching.

Waking on yet another Morn to an empty bed six and a-half months into her pregnancy didn’t surprise him any more than it had in the last couple weeks. Aerin’d long since recovered from her bout of pneumonia, but she still couldn’t sleep very well, if she was laying flat. It didn’t matter if she was laying on her side, or laying so that she’d be flat on her back, if she weren’t propped up–she complained of troubles breathing and usually tried to avoid winding up in such a position.

Letting out a groan as he pushed himself into a sitting position, the Silver Fox stretched his arms over his head as he stood up. He decided to take his Time with finding his wife, considering he was pretty sure she’d be downstairs on the couch, the TV nearly muted in the background as she slept peacefully again. Well, that’s if she wasn’t about to take a kick to the bladder that woke her up, if she hadn’t already been woken up by such a thing, that is. Either way, he wasn’t getting that feeling that he needed to skip his Morn piss and rush downstairs, so he saw no reason to stress himself out. It was already hard enough to keep Ash from practically trying to move in with them after that bout of pneumonia, as it was, even though he understood his reasoning.

Just as he’d suspected, Bobby walked into the great room to find a big-bellied body sprawled out in his recliner, which wasn’t laid completely back. What surprised him and made him almost burst into laughter, though, was the hat pulled down over his wife’s face and practically swallowed her head. He instantly recognized it as the same hat he’d worn during a lotta the _Flesh and Blood_ promo shoots back in the Day, which she’d recently found in an old trunk of tour memorabilia. She’d told him that if he wouldn’t wear it anymore, but still wouldn’t hang it on the wall or something, she was keeping and wearing it, herself.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” he chuckled under his breath, unable to find the heart to bother her.

“Shouldn’t be surprised by what?”

Turning at the Sound of another voice, the Silver Fox saw Duff’d let himself and his own wife in, Ash and family right on their heels. “By how I found Aerin just now.”

Cocking a brow, he took a peek through the great room doorway and immediately had to bite his hand to avoid cracking up.

_“Awww,_ that’s so cute,” Susan giggled, quietly entering the room so Ash and Aidan could see past her.

“Where the hell’d she get that hat?” said youngest bassist chuckled. “The damn thing’s so big, it’s practically swallowing her head whole.”

“It’s actually an old hat of mine,” Bobby told him. “I hadn’t seen that thing since after the _Flesh and Blood_ era, so I thought it’d gotten lost in the void. When she found it in an old tour trunk I’d forgotten about, she told me to keep and wear it, keep it and hang it on the wall or something, or she’d keep and wear it, herself.”

“Gotta admit, as much as I love Ash’s hats of choice, I wouldn’t mind seeing him in it,” the ginger snickered.

Returning his wife’s grin, Ash tiptoed over to the recliner and reached out to gently pluck the hat off his friend’s head. Knowing she could be a light sleeper at Times, he all but moved in slow motion as he gently grabbed the top, then started to lift it straight up to minimize the chances of it hitting her nose or something and waking her.

Almost as soon as he’d lifted it high enough to consider himself in the clear, he’d to reach up and clamp his free hand over his mouth. Looking back across the room when he heard a snort from someone else biting back their laughter, he saw Bobby making a mad dash for the back door. Only when he was far enough away from the houseta avoid waking his wife did he double over, laughing so hard he was no doubt to have a stitch in his side from it by the Time he came back in. Shaking his head, the youngest bassist settled the swiped hat on it and struck a pose, which made his wife giggle as their friend practically died laughing in the back yard.

Wondering just what was so funny, Duff crept close enough to find out for himself–only to wind up having to join the Silver Fox in the back yard. He actually remembered seeing a picture of said oldest bassist from back in the Day that involved the blindfold that’d made him crack up, and it was still just as funny now. Well, it wasn’t actually the blindfold, itself that was so funny–it was what’d been written in the dead Center of it that’d sent everyone into gut-splitting laughter.

“Do we even wanna know?” Aidan asked, cocking a brow at her husband.

“Ya gotta read the blindfold for yourself, sugar,” he chuckled, taking the hat he’d stolen off his head to lay on the entertainment center.

Too curious not to, the ginger crept close enough to do just that–and had to bury her face in her sleeping daughter’s hair to muffle her own laughter.

“Yeah, _now_ ya see why Bobby and Duff’re practically dead with laughter,” Ash told her, still grinning.

“’Cuz ish Bobby’s old blindfold,” their friend veritably slurred, startling them by suddenly sitting up.

“Shit–the Kraken’s awake!” he chuckled, darting across the great room so he was well outta striking range.

_“Been_ awake since before Bobby said he shouldn’t be surprised,” Aerin grumbled, reaching up to pull said blindfold up.

“Damn well coulda fooled us,” her friend laughed. “Hell, I think ya _did_ fool us.”

“’Cuz I’m good at faking sleep like that when I wanna,” she snickered. “Now, get outta my way, or risk becoming my new potty.”

“Yea, yea, Cap’n!” Aidan laughed, stepping aside after giving her a hand to help haul herself up.

As she was waddling off to the closest bathroom, the older bassists finally came back into the house, now that they’d gotten their laughter outta their systems. Bobby was still wiping tears from his eyes, his other arm wrapped around his blonde counterpart as they leaned on each other. Even said blonde was still chuckling as he reached behind them to close the back door on their way in, but at least they weren’t choking on their own attemptsta merely draw a breath.

Now that he was Calmed down enough to even attempt such a thing, said Silver Fox headed for the kitchen to start on breakfast. He didn’t miss the fact that his wife was no longer in the great room, but judging by everyone else’s lack of freakin’ out over it, he figured she’d just waddled off for a potty break. As it stood, she was far enough into her pregnancy that a kick to the bladder could result in her needing a change of clothes, and the fact that pregnant women’d to piss more–even a month in–didn’t help that. But he knew she was no doubt to be starving once she’d taken care of that particular need–his only problem was even trying to anticipate what she’d want, considering her wild cravings lately.

Even as they jumped in to help with both food prep and watching kiddos once Zep and Zeta came downstairs, the remaining trio of adults couldn’t help questioning why the blindfold Aerin’d been wearing was so funny. Chuckling as he started on homemade Cinnamon roll dough, Bobby explained why seeing it from across the room’d sent him running outside. It was from the _Flesh and Blood_ era, give or take, just like the hat that’d originally hidden it from sight–but it was what he’d once written on it that was so funny. Just three simple words that–when applied to his wife, especially while pregnant–were too hilarious _not_ to laugh at.

“It says, _Please wake me for meal service_ over the eyes ’cuz I didn’t eat like I shoulda back then,” the Silver Fox chuckled. “I was usually more interested in drinking, especially while we were on the road.”

“Well, that’s not exactly funny,” Aidan said, looking a bit confused.

“Till ya read where I wrote _Wake if Horny_ right in the middle of it,” he snickered, which made Duff bite his hand to muffle laughter again.

“Okay, _now_ I get it,” Susan laughed. “’Cuz ya, men’re always thinking with your lil heads.”

“Hey, go out on a moving Sardine can where you’ve to pass each other ass-to-ass unless someone’s feeling a lil frisky, andja wouldn’t blame us,” her own husband snickered.

“Seriously,” Ash agreed with a chuckle. “I mean, I’m not even bisexual, but damned if I didn’t think I’d the ability to swing that way for a Night or three, if it meant _not_ going to bed needy again.”

“Thank the Gods for groupies back then, huh?” the blonde said.

“Oh, fuck–ya damn well know it, man!” he laughed.

“Y’all idiots’ve better’n groupies now, though, and y’all’d best remember that.”

Turning to look over their shoulders, they saw Aerin waddling back in, big belly leading the way as she kept a hand pressed to her lumbar.

“Oh, we know it, sweetheart,” Bobby assured her, leaning down for a kiss. “Back hurting again?”

“When doesn’t it when I’ve a couple Melons taking up residence in my gut?” she retorted with a smirk.

“They can’t weigh quite _that_ much yet,” Ash said, even as he pulled her into his lap to take care of that backache for her.

“You’re gonna live to regret that, Purdy,” the young woman warned him, groaning as he dug his thumbs in.

“Leave it to me, sweetheart,” her husband chuckled, a devious tone to his voice as he headed for the garage.

Even Aidan wasn’t too sure what they were up to as he took off, but she was sure of one thing–whatever it was, it was gonna be miserable for her husband, but hilarious for everyone else. That Thought, alone was enough to make her grin at him mischievously, even though she hadn’t the slightest clue what was about to happen once the Silver Fox came back.

Said oldest bassist soon Returned with a fairly big box in his hands, Duff jumping up to take it from him since it looked like it was pulling on his neck and shoulders funny. His gray-haired counterpart shot him a thankful smile, reaching up to massage the back of his neck as he settled the cardboard on the table so he could open it. Everybody in the room was wondering just what he’d excused himself to get, and they all proved that by turning their attention to the box that was being opened. Only the other couple knew what was in it, which made them grin like utter fools as he pulled back the flaps, his eyes widening at what he saw.

Damn near choking on his own spit as he reached in, the blonde bassist figured out what his shared wife was up to as he pulled what almost looked like a huge mound of Jello outta the box. It didn’t quite feel like rubber, but it didn’t quite feel like silicone to him, either as he pulled free and started to spread it out. Once it was spread out on the table, even the other women couldn’t help exploding into raucous laughter as they realized it was a mold of a pregnant belly, complete with swollen tits.

“Oh, hell no!” Ash said, his own eyes the size of dinner plates as he realized what it was.

_“Ohhhh,_ yes, Ashie,” his wife shot back with a grin. “Time to be a good boy and take your medicine.”

“Nuh, uh–no way’re y’all getting that thing on me!” he said vehemently.

“You’re kinda pinned down by the woman whose boobs and belly it was once molded from,” Aerin snickered. “I wouldn’t be saying no, given those circumstances.”

“Ya won’t be the first to wind up wearing it, kid,” her husband chuckled. “Why the hell do ya think it got made in the first place?”

“Wait, what?” The youngest bassist somehow looked even more shocked.

“Yeah, _he_ once said much the same thing to me,” she told him. “Guess who walked around with _that_ on Day in, Day out except for when he was in the shower for a week?”

“You’re _really_ gonna make me do this?” Ash asked, groaning when she grinned deviously over her shoulder and nodded. “Fuck me.”

“Hey, now you’ll know how even _I_ felt,” the ginger laughed. “’Cuz while I never had it as bad as Aerin, it still wasn’t easy.”

“Even I can attest to that,” Susan agreed. “All that weight pulling on ya funny isn’t a joke, and don’t even get me started on labor.”

“Well, that’s the one part I _can’t_ give a say on,” she admitted. “Kinda hard to since I didn’t really get that kinda chance.”

“Oh, yeah–that’s right,” the blonde woman said, nodding. “I keep forgetting about that, as healthy as you and Ember seem now.”

“Trust me, I don’t–prolly no more than Aerin forgets how bad labor hurts,” Aidan chuckled.

“Actually, I’d forgotten how rough the Morn sickness was–till I went through it again,” she laughed. “I’m sure labor’ll be much the same way for me.”

Even Duff couldn’t help a chuckle as his first wife agreed that she’d forgotten how bad labor with Grace’d been–till she went into labor with Mae. Then it was like all the memories came flooding back at once to hit her right between the eyes like a barrel of bricks falling on her head. It wasn’t a very pleasant experience till she finally got her epidural, and after that, it was like there wasn’t a thing wrong in the World.

Aerin snickered as she admitted that she’d taken pretty much the full brunt of labor with Zep and Zeta, but it’d been her own fault due to the choice she’d made. That actually made her turn her attention to her friends, a serious look on her face as her husbands got the faux-belly attached to Ash, who still groaned as they did. She made it quite clear that–unless the need for a C-section suddenly cropped up–she wasn’t giving Birth in a hospital this Time around any more than she had last Time. Even being in the hospital for a week due to her pneumonia was more than long enough for her, and she wasn’t going back unless she _had_ to.

That revelation took the other couple by surprise, enough that the youngest bassist halted in even the slightest complaint as he was outfitted with that faux-belly. All this Time, they thought she’d delivered her babies in the same hospital that’d saved their daddy’s Life before they were even conceived, given that they hadn’t seen them for about three Days after the Births. Neither’d ever realized that she’d actually delivered right here in this house, specifically the great room mere feet away from them.

“We never even realizedja didn’t have those two in a hospital–or even a Birthing center, for that matter,” Aidan said.

“When I say I _hate_ medical facilities, I mean I hate ’em with a capital _hate,”_ she laughed. “But Dr. Kenda, a midwife she works with routinely, and a couple of her nurses were here, so it’s not like we weren’t in good hands.”

“Okay, that makes me feel a lil better about your vehemence on delivering outside a hospital again,” Ash said, grunting as Bobby got the straps holding the faux belly on tightened.

“Do I need to loosen it?” he asked, not wanting to hurt him.

“Nah, it ain’t that tight,” the youngest bassist chuckled. “Just feels freakin’ weird, is all.”

“Trust me, I know the feeling,” Bobby told him. “Now imagine finding a shirt to fit over it, or one that I didn’t mind possibly winding up stretched out, among other things.”

“But getting back on track,” he said. “As long as the proper precautions’re taken, I don’t really care one way or the other _where_ the babies’re born.”

“Same here,” the ginger agreed with a nod. “It’s _her_ body, but as long as they’re safe and healthy, why argue the point?”

“Glad we’re all on the same page there,” Aerin chuckled, grinning as she watched her friend do a trunk-twist to help the faux-belly settle into place better.

Nobody could help a laugh as he frown down at his torso, one hand seeming to support the actual belly while he poked at one of the faux-breasts with his free hand. He seemed a bit surprised when it more or less behaved the same way as he was used to his wife’s behaving, if she didn’t have a bra on. That just made him groan when he realized that he was gonna be stuck wearing a bra, if he wanted theseta behave while he was wearing this thing, which made his friend grin.

The young woman admitted that she’d worked with its Creator to design it that way on purpose since Bobby’d seemed like he didn’t believe her when she said that it wasn’t just her belly that got in her way. Course, she’d gone a step further and gotten her breasts molded again after she’d stopped nursing and the swelling’d gone down so she could torment him on a normal Day, too.

Said Silver Fox grinned and said that he’d actually join him in the torment by wearing those faux-breasts, if it’d get him to shut up and just do it. One of the things he said as he headed back toward the garage to find them was that the less he complained aside from sympathizing with Aerin, the less Time she’d make him wear it. He’d found that out the hard way when he’d complained to the point that instead of making him wear the full get-up for a single Day like she’d originally planned, he’d earned himself that full week in it. And the only reason she’d let him take it off for showers was so that he could keep himself clean, considering it was essentially plastered to his front.

Ash wasn’t looking forward to even the Thought of having to sleep in it, given that he could already feel the weight pulling on his torso, mostly his back. He didn’t wanna try sleeping with it on, ’cuz he could already tell he wouldn’t be able to sleep on his back without being propped up–and he hated doing that unless he was congested for some reason. Given that very valid reason, he was quick to shut his trap and just deal with the punishment he’d earned himself, although even he couldn’t help a smile when Ember giggled and poked his side–maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as he’d thought, after all.

By that Eve, the youngest bassist’d done his Time and finally gotten freed of the faux-belly Aerin’d made him wear all Day while they were hanging out. He was certainly glad, both so he could actually move without having to worry about things like being unable to get as closeta the sink when washing his hands and so he could lose the sports bra she’d loaned him. He hadn’t been able to tolerate one with underwire, ’cuz even through the gel attached to his front, it’d bitten into his chest too much and felt like it was stabbing him.

Just as he’d promised, Bobby’d joined him in his misery by wearing the faux-breasts all Day, even though that’d gotten _him_ stuck in a bra, too. It’d certainly given Zep, Zeta, and Ember a few good giggles, especially when he’d brush his arm against them and momentarily startle himself for the first hour since he wasn’t used to having tits for obvious reasons. Even the McKagans’d spent most of the Day laughing hysterically, Duff laughing the hardest when he’d to readjust the right side so the _breast_ was laying atop the body of his guitar while he was playing that afternoon. It was an action that was all too familiar, ’cuz their shared wife’d to do that every Time she played, whether it was guitar or bass.

“I swear, I’ll never brush off a pregnant woman’s complaints again,” Ash sighed, slumping as his older counterparts got him outta the contraption.

“Oh, I’m sure, love,” his wife laughed as she gently rubbed his back.

“Between the hellacious Morn sickness–especially this Time around–and now this,” he said, groaning in relief as she actually started massaging his back. “Gods, that thing was fuckin’ heavy!”

“Now imagine how I feel, considering this is only gonna get heavier as the next month and a-half, two months passes,” Aerin told him, gently patting her own belly. “’Cuz I designed that joker based on the amount of weight I was carrying around at about the same point in my first pregnancy as what I’m carrying around now.”

“Wait, seriously?” Ash asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

“Yeah, ya goof,” she laughed, nodding. “Ya weren’t just feeling the weight of the babies, after all.”

“There’s the weight of the babies, the fluid surrounding them, _and_ that of the placentas, too,” Aidan chuckled. “So eventually, it all adds up quite a bit.”

“Let’s see here–the twins combined wound up weighing around fourteen pounds,” the young woman said, a thoughtful look on her face as she wracked her brain. “The weight of the amniotic fluid’s usually about the same as the baby, so add another fourteen pounds, and we’re up to twenty-eight. Then _another_ fourteen pounds since the placenta’s usually about the same weight, and–shit, that makes roughly forty-two pounds, alone.”

“Jeez, no Wonder ya were so miserable by the Time ya popped,” the youngest bassist winced. “I damn well would be, too, if it were me.”

“Now ya see why I refer to my offer of being a surrogate as sacrificing myself, in a way,” Aerin said with a snicker. “’Cuz I’m giving up my body to a pair of aliens and having to give up certain shit–like getting to take my four-wheeler out for some mud-slingin’.”

“Hey, we appreciate it all the same,” he chuckled. “’Cuz we both know ya didn’t _have_ to do this for us.”

“Yeah, ya coulda just sat back and watched us go through hell to find a surrogate,” Aidan agreed. “Or have no choice _but_ to adopt, if we couldn’t find one.”

The young woman blushed as she waved off their thanks, saying that she just didn’t have the heart not to at least make such an offer. When she put herself in her friend’s shoes instead, she’d want a close friend to step up to bat for her, so to speak. Besides, this actually wasn’t the first Time she’d made such an offer–it was just the first Time she’d actually been able to prove she was willing to put her money where her mouth was.

Bobby gently rubbed his wife’s back when the youngest bassist asking what she meant drew a haunted look across her face like a curtain over a window. He was the only one she’d ever told about a certain someone from her Past after she’d left North Carolina, and he knew it wasn’t easy for her. Taking a deep breath, she finally came clean about why Aidan’s accident’d seemed to hit her harder than it shoulda to those who _hadn’t_ known this at the Time.

“My best friend from before I came out West–she was in a nasty accident of her own,” Aerin started, lacing her fingers with those of both husbands. “Looking back on it, we weren’t just best friends–we were in a long-distance lesbian relationship. But both of us were too stubborn to admit it, especially me since I’d never identified as even bisexual, let alone lesbian.”

“Well, shit,” the ginger said, her own husband’s surprised expression similar to hers.

“The wreck she was in–it left her with an open-book fracture to her pelvis that was put back together more or less just like yours,” she told them, not surprised they gasped in shock. “It also gave her at least a mild head injury, as well as fucked up her right ankle and left wrist.”

“Sweet Goddess,” Ash breathed.

“I second that with Jesus Christ,” Duff agreed, gently squeezing her hand.

“That wreck’s the very reason why I won’t go near a motorcycle other than to look, even though I’ve ridden bitch before,” the young woman continued. “She was riding her own bike, on her way home from work, the Night it happened.”

“No fuckin’ Wonder I never could getcha to go on a ride with me in all the Time we lived together, even when ya looked like ya were dying to go,” the youngest bassist mused.

“And why I _still_ can’t get her to go with me,” his blonde counterpart agreed.

Nodding, Aerin explained that when she’d found out about her former friend’s pelvic injury, she’d innately known she’d never be able to have kids without a surrogate. Seeing a 3-D X-ray of the damage _before_ her repairative surgery, then a typical X-ray of what it looked like afterward, had only driven home what she’d already known. Her friend hadn’t even needed to confirm her suspicion by actually telling her that she’d been told not to carry a child due to her pelvis being unable to widen for delivery ’cuz of the rods and screws holding it together now.

But before said friend had even told her about that injury and its implications, let alone posted the X-rays on her Instagram account, she’d made a decision most wouldn’t have. Provided that Nature didn’t put the kibosh on it and they stayed friends, she woulda been willing to carry for this other woman, if she’d ever decided on wanting kids and needed a surrogate.

Unfortunately, their friendship’d slowly fallen apart before the young woman could ever get the chanceta move to Pennsylvania like they’d been planning. She’d known her friend was gonna be at least a lil different after suffering even a mild head injury, but what she’d been faced with’d seemed far worse. Looking back on it, she wondered if she’d suffered a worse head injury than she and her family said she had, or if she’d been using the head injury as a way to show true Colors that she’d been unwilling to show before then.

“I deluded myself into holding out Hope that even if they were never _exactly_ the same, things’d go more or less back to how they’d been eventually,” Aerin said. “For almost two and a-half Years after that wreck, I did that _and_ let her tell me lie after falsehood about eventually moving up to her neck of the Woods since–even though I hate the cold–I was willing to, if it meant getting away from my so-called family.”

“Fuckin’-A,” the ginger breathed.

“What’s worse–she wasn’t just my best friend, or even a lesbian lover,” she said, looking her friends dead in the eye. “She was basically my sister, as far as I was concerned.”

Even Ash couldn’t help a dropped jaw when she revealed that.

“One Day, it was like having a slightly more temperamental version of the sister I’d had for over four Years–the next, it was like I’d a stranger I didn’t know from Eve’s house Cat,” the young woman told them. “She wound up meeting some guy, and since it’d been just the two of us for so long, I was jealous, I’ll admit. Then, the next thing I know, she pretty much dropped me like a hot Tater for him.”

“Fuck, no Gods damn Wonder ya took so long to start calling me _bro,”_ he winced.

“Exactly.” Aerin nodded as she Returned the squeezes her husbands gave her hands. “The fact that I’d lost the relationship I had with _another_ former best friend I called _bro_ didn’t help with that.”

“Wait, that’s why ya wouldn’t lemme do anything behind Sue’s back, isn’t it?” Duff asked, looking Enlightened now.

“Yeah, it is,” she answered, nodding again. “I stupidly let him have a two-Time affair with me instead of letting him go crazy and run through hooker after hooker, only for it to cost me my friendship and siblinghood with him.”

The only one in the room who didn’t wince at that admission was Bobby, and that was simply ’cuz he already knew this part.

“So, when I use any kinda familial term with someone _not_ blood-related to me, I take it with the utmost seriousness,” the young woman concluded. “That means that I’m willing to do whatever I can and have to for ’em, whether it’s be their surrogate or lay down my Life like they’re one of my kids.”

“At least now we know why ya said that we’d better be in it for the long haul, or quit calling ya shit like _sis,”_ Ash chuckled, moving to hug her.

Aerin couldn’t help a laugh as she gladly Returned the hug, somehow laughing even harder when he dropped down to his knees so he could hug her hips. The thing that made her laugh about that more than anything was how he rested his head against her belly as if it were a pillow. Obviously, that wasn’t the case, but this was apparently his way of showing that he loved and cared about her as much as he loved and cared about the babies she carried for them.

Once she’d convinced him to get up so they could get started on dinner, one of the babies decided her bladder was a football again. Everyone in the room laughed as she let out a squeak before darting off to the closest bathroom as quick as she possibly could, given her current condition. But it was as she was Returning from that sudden potty break that she heard something that made her frown from her laptop.

Considering that Aidan was the only one she’d Skyped with in Years–and they usually didn’t have a need for that anymore, what with living all of ten minutes apart–it was a surprise to hear the Sound of an incoming Skype call. Waddling over to the desk that was set up between the entertainment center and the built-in that her shotgun lived above, a curious expression on her face. She couldn’t fathom who on Earth’d be calling her right now, but that question was quickly answered as she settled in the desk chair. But she just about didn’t believe her eyes as she read the caller’s name, which garnered a disbelieving laugh as the others watched her.

“Well, well, well–speak of the devil, and look what the Cat dragged in,” she drawled, grabbing her trackball to answer the call. Shit was about to get interesting, and even she couldn’t Begin to imagine how much so.


	7. Seven

Even Bobby was a bit bewildered when his wife motioned for everyone to stay back where they couldn’t be seen with her free hand, her other moving her cursor so she could click the _Answer with Video_ button. Since she almost never used folks’ names when talking about them, if they didn’t know she was, he didn’t think anything of just barely being able to make out _Sabrina Lawhorn_ from across the room. Apparently, nobody else really thought anything of it either, judging by their shrugs, so they were just as surprised by the word they heard as soon as the call connected.

_“Siiiissy!”_

Aerin simply stared at her laptop screen with a bemused expression, her chin resting on the hand that’d been operating her trackball only moments later.

_“Ello?”_ the other woman asked, miming tapping her own screen. _“Can chu hear me?”_

“Well, I damn well haven’t gone deaf–although I certainly _Wish_ I had every now and again,” she dead-panned, rolling her eyes so hard that her Silent audience almost thought she actually saw her own brains when she did so.

_“Then why act like ya didn’t, as many problems as we used to have with Skype?”_

All the young woman did by way of responding was shrug, and the Silver Fox knew something was up.

_“Oh, c’mon_ – _you’re my sissy, so I know ya better than ya think I do,”_ she chuckled.

“You know _nothing_ about me,” Aerin growled, her words practically dripping with venom, which startled the other woman–whom he now realized bore a strong resemblanceta his wife. “In fact, I’m starting to wonder if ya ever did.”

_“What’s that supposed to mean?”_ the woman asked, her expression now looking startled.

“Seriously?” She snorted as she rolled her eyes so hard, they prolly shoulda gotten stuck again. “Ya haven’t spoken a word to me–not a single fuckin’ word–in over eight Years, and now ya suddenly call me up outta the blue like it’s only been a week? Out with it, woman, ’cuz I know ya want something.”

Duff shared a look with his male equivalent of a sister wife, both of them shocked by her sudden Change in tone and attitude. Sure, they’d both seen her have some pretty nasty mood swings from Time to Time–especially when she was hormonal or otherwise stressed out–but nothing like this. This was like someone stumbling across a mortal enemy they hadn’t seen in decades and going from happy-go-lucky to wanting to rip their throat out with their bare hands.

The other woman apparently realized she’d made a huge miscalculation, even if she was obliviousta Aerin being pregnant and that having a lot to do with her attitude. Apparently, she realized that she’d misjudged in thinking things were like they used to be, which was apparently a lot longer ago than anyone currently in the room thought at first.

_“I’m. Waiting.”_

Bobby couldn’t help instinctively backing away, even though he’d already been across the room, ’cuz he’d seen her get like this only a handful of Times–and they almost never Ended well. Usually, it was when Bret’d been provoking her–till he’d watched her lay Rikki out by accident that one Time, that is–thus making her feel like a caged Animal. And when this young woman got to feeling caged like that, it wasn’t smart to further back her into a corner–she came out swinging like her fists were sledgehammers, or made outta axe heads that’d crush somebody’s skull, or simply chop their heads off.

_“Well, I’d been hoping to ask an old friend for a favor,”_ the other woman finally said with a sigh. _“But something tells me you’d say no, judging by your reaction.”_

“Won’t know for sure without fuckin’ spitting it out,” she snapped. “Andja better make it snappy, if you’re gonna, ’cuz I ain’t got all the Time in the World like I used to.”

Her old friend seemed surprised when she said that, but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, ya know–got placesta to go, thingsta do, a couple men to fuck straight into the stratosphere,” Aerin drawled. “All in a Day’s work for me now–nothing to see here.”

_“Well, remember that wreck I got into?”_ she finally asked her.

“How could I fuckin’ forget?” the young woman countered. “Oh, that’s right–I fuckin’ _haven’t,_ Sabrina. Those memories _still_ haunt me, even over a decade later.”

_“Remember whatcha said after I toldja about my pelvis, though?”_

“Every last fuckin’ word–and the answer’s no.” Aerin leaned back in her chair, but the way she was positioned didn’t give away that she was already pregnant.

_“Butcha said_ – _”_

“I fuckin’ know what I said,” she interrupted. “The answer’s no ’cuz it’s kinda hard to say yes when I’m already pregnant.”

Sabrina’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as she stood up to show off her pregnant belly.

“So, it’s not a matter of whether I wanna or not–it’s a matter of whether I can or not,” the young woman said, settling back in her chair. “Obviously, I physically can’t–although I _still_ prolly wouldn’t, even if I could.”

_“Not even for your sissy?”_ she asked, sounding as hurt as she now looked.

“You’ve been no sister of mine since the Day ya dropped me for Boy-Toy,” Aerin snapped. “Hell, you’ve been no sister of mine since the Night of that wreck–I was just too hopeful and delusional to fuckin’ see it before I got in too deep.”

Now the other woman _really_ looked wounded, but both aging bassists could tell their shared wife was on a roll, and there was no stopping her.

“And if you’re still with Boy-Toy, I _definitely_ wouldn’t carry for ya,” the young woman continued. “I’d just as soon have a _biological_ child with Andy Biersack as have _that_ bastard’s spawn incubating in me–and I _still_ hate Andy, even now.”

_“You’re such a juvenile,”_ Sabrina finally said, clearly masking her hurt with Anger. _“Hating a grown man just ’cuz ya don’t like his wife_ – _and were prolly jealous of her all along.”_

“Ex-wife, actually–not that you’d know since _you_ don’t have the same kinda intel that I do,” she retorted with a smirk. “But that’s neither here, nor there–the fact of the matter remains that Boy-Toy can go hump a meat grinder, for all I care, ’cuz I’d carry the child of any man _but_ him, whether I was the biological mother or not.”

After listening to the conversation up to this point, Bobby’s eyes widened as it finally Dawned on him _why_ his wife was acting so outta character. This wasn’t just _any_ woman, nor just any old conversation between two friends who’d been outta touch for quite a while. No, this was the woman she’d just been telling everyone about–that former best friend-turned-accidental long-distance lover–and her inner Fire Witch was coming out.

She’d warned him that not only did Air Witches’ve a tendency to turn their backs on someone without a second Thought, if they broke their Trust and/or otherwise did them wrong, but Fire Witches’d a tendency to be downright and utterly cruel, if it meant severing a connection with someone. It was pretty rare to see Aerin be cruel to anyone, no matter how much she did or didn’t like them–when she _was_ cruel to another, they’d almost always done something to deserve it. If what she’d been telling them just a few minutes ago was even a slight exaggeration of the Truth, he couldn’t blame her for acting this way.

Duff’s eyes widened when the Silver Fox pulled him down just enough to murmur his suspicion into his ear, his other ear all but cocked on their shared wife. The young woman was simply letting this Sabrina chick call her every name in the book and then some, Susan having snuck outta the kitchen through the mudroom with the kids so they weren’t exposed to the foul language. If his counterpart was right, things were about to get even uglier than they already were, and by how much was anyone’s guess.

“Now, if you’re quite done assuming that I’m just a juvenile bitch who’s jealous of everyone and everything around her,” Aerin said when she seemed to’ve run outta steam. “News flash, girlie–if anyone’s a reason to be jealous of another, _you’re_ the one who should be jealous of _me,_ not the other way around.”

_“Oh, sure_ – _the woman who was living with her grandmother and so miserable, she’d rather go to sleep and not wake up than have to put up with her for one more Day,”_ the other woman retorted.

“No, that was my _mother_ I was living with the last Time we talked–which was in March of 2019, if you’ll recall,” she said. “A lot Changes in the Space of eight Years–a lot more than ya seem to think.”

_“Try me,”_ Sabrina goaded her, only to be answered with her eerily familiar _Challenge accepted, bitch_ expression.

“Let’s see here–took off with barely two hundred bucksta my name three months after the last Time we talked, everything I owned and actually wanted to keep packed up in a lil ol’ jalopy Kat’d bought for me that I paid her back for,” the young woman started. “Ran into someone I’d never’ve Dreamt of actually getting to meet, let alone form a relationship of _any_ kind with.”

Her former friend looked confused, not to mention surprised as she kept going.

“That friend was the best damn thing to’ve ever happened to me at that point, considering that he opened up his home to a complete and utter stranger just ’cuz he didn’t wanna see her living outta her car when I coulda been a psych ward escapee gone off my meds,” Aerin continued. “Then he wound up introducing me to my first husband, who subsequently introduced me to the second. Do I _really_ need to continue throwing rocks at your glass house, or have I shattered enough panes already, so to speak?”

The other woman’s mouth opened and closed several Times as she floundered for a response, which made her smirk in a downright cruel way as she finally gestured for the rest of the adultsta come closer, her hand hidden from the camera as she did.

“All _you_ ever need to know about me again is that I finally got my Wish of getting the hell outta there and then some, I’m surrounded by a family I never woulda Dreamt of having–literally _and_ firguratively–and whoever ya _thought_ was still your sissy’s been dead and gone for a long Time…just like _my_ sissy has been,” she told her as both husbands knelt on either side of her.

Susan rested a hand on the blonde bassist’s shoulder, Ash and Aidan leaning down enough for the camera to catch their faces clearly–which made the expression on Sabrina’s turn to utter shock.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve several mouthsta feed besides my own,” the young woman snapped. “I dare ya to keep calling me back and see how many Times I bother answering from here on out.”

Without waiting for so much as a Change in her expression by way of response, she grabbed her trackball and moved the cursor so she could End the call. None of the adults now crowded around her wanted to believe just how utterly cruel she’d been to the other woman, but they couldn’t deny what they’d just witnessed for themselves. This was a side of her that none of them ever wanted to Awaken again, if only ’cuz she’d a tongue sharper than any blade on the Planet that they’d ever seen.

Aerin took several deep breaths–well, as deep as she could manage for being so pregnant–her eyes closed as she tried to at least Center herself. Of all the people on the Planet to try Skyping her, it just _had_ to be her former best friend, the one person she once couldn’t have imagined being so cruel to. And with the Intent to actually _ask_ her to be her surrogate after acting like she’d never existed for the last eight Years–of all the fuckin’ nerve! She just about Wished there hadn’t been others in the house, let alone in the same room, so she coulda _really_ given her a piece of her mind for that one.

Duff and Bobby both wrapped their arms around her, only the Silver Fox really having any kinda Understanding of conscious projection. Still, at least he was able to feed her a lil bit of Soothing Energy to help her Calm down since the last thing she needed to be was worked up. It wasn’t good for her on a normal Day, but certainly not while pregnant–and with babies that weren’t even hers on top of it.

Once she seemed sufficiently Calm, both men pulled back just enough to look at her, Ash and Aidan still standing behind her. Unlike when the call was first Ended when they’d been wearing expressions that looked as protective as it got, they both just looked flabbergasted. They’d known the young woman could be mean and incredibly violent when she felt like it, but they’d never seen this kinda cruelty from her before. It was like she’d become a totally different person right before their eyes, like she quite literally had two faces and she’d chosen to show the second one for once. As they thought about that particular angle, it was no Wonder she described herself as having the two-faced duality of a mutable sign.

“Sweet Gods,” the youngest bassist finally said. “Remind me to never, and I do mean _never,_ get on your bad side like that.”

“I’ve never seen ya act so cruel to someone before,” his wife mused as she nodded her agreement.

“No, you’ve just never seen a Fire Witch burning her Bridges, so to speak,” Aerin told them, moving to open a file that she kept hidden from everyone.

“I swear, the chick almost looked like your twin,” Duff said as he pushed himself up from his knee.

“We used to get that a lot,” she admitted, setting the file–which turned out to be a picture of Sabrina–to print. “Same goes for when we were both wearing our glasses, too.”

“Wait, ya wear glasses?” Ash asked. “I never knew that in all the Years I’ve known ya.”

“Not very often,” the young woman laughed, opening a drawer next to her leg to rummage through for a moment. “They usually gimme migraines more than actually help me, so I tend to just Change font sizes on Word documents and web pages.”

Looking up at him moments later, she’d a pair of glasses on that’d frames so thin, they almost seemed frameless at first.

“Right now, my vision’s prolly ’bout as blurry as Bobby’s _without_ his glasses,” Aerin chuckled, already feeling herself going cross-eyed from trying to make out her best friend’s face.

“You’re going cross-eyed, and I’m not sure if it’s Intentional or not,” the youngest bassist laughed.

“Totally _not_ Intentional,” she told him as she moved to open a different picture that showed Sabrina wearing her own glasses. “I’m usually near-sighted as fuck, but not quite _that_ bad.”

“So, why’re ya printing out pictures of that chick?” Even Bobby was confused as she took her glasses off and restored them to their case.

“Just go get my Grounding pot, and you’ll see,” the young woman answered. “And don’t fuckin’ make me do it myself, or I’ll drop it on your feet since ya know I’m not supposed to be trying to pick up anything that heavy while pregnant.”

Not wanting her to do any such thing to him for any reason, the Silver Fox stepped onto the patio to grab the massive Flower pot she was talking about. She kept it filled with dirt so that any Time she needed to Ground and Center herself, she could, no matter what the Weather was doing. It served the same purpose as digging her toes into the grass, or burying her feet in the Sand when they went on a vacation to the Beach, considering that it was still part of the Earth.

As he managed to get the Flower pot into the house, Aerin turned to grab the two sheets of paper from the printer. That cruel look she’d been giving her former best friend was back in her eyes, and that made the others more than a lil wary of her–especially as she grabbed her old Zippo. Once the pot of dirt was positioned between her feet, she nodded her thanksta her slightly older husband and flipped open the lid of that lighter.

Even Ash was enthralled as they watched her strike the lighter, then hold the Flame that sprang up to the corner of those sheets of paper. Only once they’d caught well enough for her liking did she lay them down in the pot of dirt, those Flames dancing and Creating eerie Shadows across her face as she watched them. None of them knew what was going through her mind as she stared down at them, not realizing she was essentially doing a cord-cutting spell. After all, none of them’d ever really looked into Pagan practices, and since she didn’t normally do such things, they’d never seen her do even the most minor spell work. They wouldn’t know the significance of what she was doing till after she’d done it and finally decided to Enlighten them.

Lifting her face to the ceiling, Aerin seemed to be looking straight through to the Heavens as the Flames momentarily brightened before the sheets of paper burned themselves out. Even as a thin tendril of Smoke drifted up from the Flower pot, she seemed to sag in relief, like the weight of the World had just been lifted from her shoulders. She knew that only the coming Days’d tell her if the Gods’d heard her Intent and granted her desire but she was certainly sure of one thing. As she made sure that mini-Fire was out by covering the remaining embers with dirt, she knew that Sabrina’d get whatever Karma decided to dish out to her and then some.


	8. Eight

“I still can’t believe she’d _dare_ to call ya–and for _that,_ of all fuckin’ things!”

Aerin couldn’t help a laugh at the incredulous look that Graced her ginger friend’s face, her husband still looking a bit shell-shocked. Now that they’d moved on to having dinner together at last, they’d been Reflecting on the surprise Skype call, and pretty much everybody was of the same opinion. It was more than a lil presumptive of someone to assume that an old friend would even consider being their surrogate just ’cuz they’d apparently Changed their minds on having kids. However, it was even more presumptive to think that old friend would do such a thing after essentially being ignored like they were non-existent for nearly a decade after the collapse of a friendship formerly so strong, it could be considered sisterhood.

“You’re telling me,” the young woman agreed as she nodded. “It kinda makes me feel gross for being pregnant with anyone’s babies but my own, but at the same Time, it makes me fuckin’ glad that I am. At least I’ve a valid excuse for denying her, no matter what other reasons I could come up with.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely true.” Aidan nodded as she wiped her mouth. “Like ya told her, it’s not a matter of whether ya wanna or not, if ya physically can’t.”

“And it wouldn’t matter if ya were already _our_ surrogate, or had gotten a hysterectomy, either,” Ash added.

“Well, I wasn’t kidding about refusing to carry the child of whom I refer to as _Boy-Toy,”_ she grumbled. “Ya really think _any_ woman in her right mind would carry the kids of a guy who more or less stole her sister from her?”

“I know I wouldn’t,” Susan spoke up. “Well, if I hadn’t already hit menopause Ages ago, that is.”

“Eh, Fertility drugs could reverse that, but that’s a different story,” Aerin chuckled. “I get whatcha mean, either way.”

“So, what was the point in printing out those pictures of her, only to burn them?” their shared blonde husband asked. It was a question that’d been on all their minds ever since she’d done it.

“It was kinda a minor form of spell work, actually,” she admitted. “Consider it a cord-cutting, of sorts.”

“Wait, really?” Even Bobby looked surprised.

“Yeah, really,” the young woman answered, nodding. “I did it after I dumped my very first ex when I was seventeen–and guess who hit a Deer on his way home only Days after I did that?”

Everybody at the table burst into laughter at the Thought, even though they realized it coulda just been a coincidence as much as she did. Then again, there mighta actually been something _to_ a show of such a vindictive Nature that’d actually orchestrated him hitting that Deer. One thing they all agreed on was that they’d prolly never know for sure, so there was no point in dwelling on it and giving themselves migraines.

While the guys were cleaning up from dinner, they couldn’t help marveling over the possibilities of what’d happen to Sabrina after such a cord-cutting. It was very possible that nothing’d happen in the way of any kinda Karma, good or bad, and that it’d just make Aerin feel a sense of closure when it came to that dead friendship. Then again, it could very well cause some kinda Karma for her–most likely bad, given the way said friendship’d Ended all those Years ago. And if they were all honest with themselves, that bad Karma could range from just some serious bad Luck to her winding up in another bad wreck. In fact, it could very well facilitate the breakdown of her relationship with whomever she Intended to be the father of her child, Boy-Toy or otherwise.

Regardless of all else, there was one major thing they were all in agreement on–and that wasta _never_ piss off a Witch. Each of them really only knew what the young woman’d told them over the Years, mostly about Air Witches, but they somehow got the feeling that pissing off any of the other Elemental Witches wouldn’t be any smarter. None of them realized just how right they were, which made said Air Witch grin as she waddled over to her special bookcase and started perusing.

After a few moments, she pulled a certain book outta its place near the Beginning of all her Witchy books and settled in Bobby’s lap. He saw that it was literally called _Elemental Witch_ as he wrapped his arms around her expanding waist, Duff reaching over to rest his hand on her knee while his other squeezed that of his blonde wife. Even the kids seemed enthralled, if only by the cover Art–which seemed to depict each of the four Earthly Elements–as she made to open the book.

“I’m only reading a few paragraphs here and there, ’cuz the _Path_ sections’re too long to wanna read in their entirety,” Aerin said.

“Works for us,” the blonde bassist responded, everyone else nodding their agreement.

“The Path of the Air Witch,” she read, her eyes downcast as she looked at the book spread across her belly. “The Path of the Air Witch’s one of constant mental stimulation and expression–as poets, writers, actors, and Dreamers, Air Witches walk the line of Creativity. The Wind’s the Soliloquy of Life–every Thought and Sound transports itself through the Air.”

“Well, _that_ certainly explains why your head’s always in the Clouds!” Ash laughed.

“Oh, shut up, ’cuz you’re no better!” the young woman retorted. “Seen as flaky and airheaded by some, the Strength of the Air Witch lies in her Intelligence, not her common sense–she walks around with her head in the Clouds. Too often she suffers from _foot in mouth_ disease–she seemsta have an uncanny knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong Time. Uncomfortable with Silence, the Air Witch’s content to chatter on aimlessly–she’s well-known for making people laugh and smile, even when she’s on their last nerve.”

Nobody could help a snicker since that definitely fit her to a T at Times.

“A key Strength of the Master of the Wind’s her flexibility–the Air Witch always allows room to Change her mind and to bend with the Wind. She considers that she’s never fully _done_ –she’s a work in progress,” Aerin continued, glancing up with a grin. “Just as ya can’t capture the Wind, ya can’t pin down an Air Witch to one viewpoint for too long–she refusesta stagnate by accepting anything to be true all the Time. She’s inquisitive, bubbly, and bright, and can Inspire othersta reach higher, try harder, and give a goal their best shot–Air Witches make wonderful cheerleaders.”

“I can definitely agree with that last statement fitting ya pretty well,” the lone ginger chuckled.

“On the flip side, the happy-go-lucky Air Witch ain’t one ya want to anger–her Fury rouses quickly, and she usually possesses a nasty temper.” She wore a bemused expression as she glanced up again, knowing that was definitely true about her. “An Air Witch won’t mince words with ya–she’ll cut straight to the bone. Once her outburst’s over, she’s usually no longer mad–five minutes after her tantrum, she’s no idea why anyone’s angry with her.

“Due to her flighty Nature, the Air Witch’s an easy Time letting go of the Past–she can overcome the most tragic of Life’s situations. She’ll be Changed, but she’ll quickly move on–she’s truly like the Wind. ’Cuz of this, she tendsta make bad judgments–she doesn’t always think things through fully before taking action.”

Even Susan nodded her agreement, ’cuz they’d all noticed those particular qualities about her, too–namely in how she dealt with cutting ties with her mother apparently not long after losing her best friend.

“Among the many quirks of Air Witches, claustrophobia rates unusually high in their ranks,” Aerin read. “The Air Witch can’t stand the Thought of being trapped in a place with limited Air–scuba diving or the like’s a rare activity for an Air Witch, as she Fears suffocation above all else.”

“Well, that explains why we share that particular trait,” Duff chuckled. “We’re both Air signs, and we’re both terrified of shit like flying.”

“On a plane, that is,” she laughed. “’Cuz that’s where that claustrophobia angle’d come into play with flying since otherwise, we’d be in a free, open Sky.”

Another round of nods followed before she skipped ahead a few more paragraphs.

“If you’re friends with an Air Witch, prepare to be Inspired–she wants her friends and loved onesta achieve their desired level of Success just as badly as they do,” the young woman read. “The Air Witch gives herself to her friends Selflessly–however, once betrayed, she’ll never trust that person again.”

“There’s our answer for why she’d just offer herself up as a surrogate, love,” Aidan chuckled.

“Yeah, can’t deny that she’s as Selfless as it gets with the right folks, if she feels like it,” he agreed.

“The Air Witch’s all about movement, and she refusesta get caught in other peoples’ hang-ups–she ain’t one to give second chances,” Aerin continued. “’Cuz of her willingnessta please, and the fact that she strivesta make all things just, she may actually say that she’ll grant someone a second chance and then try to, but rarely can she do it in her heart. Once Trust’s gone for her, it’s gone–she moves on.”

None of them could deny that she seemed to live for pleasing those she loved and cared about, but also tended to keep her distance when it came to getting caught up in other folks’ problems. She might try to help them solve those problems however she could, but aside from acting as a sorta mediator, she generally preferred staying outta it. And while none of them’d ever gotten on her bad side, judging by how she’d acted with Sabrina during that video call, she definitely wasn’t one to give a second chance in most cases.

“The Air Witch’s optimistic and Energetic–she always starts off strong, even if her efforts dwindle later. It’s the same in all areas of her Life–her first magick’s the strongest, and she usually instinctively knows her Element instantly.” The young woman chuckled as she admitted that she hadn’t instinctively known her Element at first, but that otherwise fit her. “The only part of her Life where this factor doesn’t enter into the equation is in the case of first Love–once a relationship’s over for her, it’s over. The Air Witch doesn’t live in the Past, but in the Present–the Love she has now’s the only one that matters.”

Bobby hummed as he nuzzled her temple, his blonde counterpart gently squeezing her knee, ’cuz they both knew how true that was about her.

“The Air Witch can maintain her Stamina to complete a project if she perceives it to be a challenge–telling an Air Witch that she can’t do something’s a sure way to see to it that she does,” Aerin read. “However, if she guesses that she’s being manipulated in this fashion, she’ll erupt into a tantrum–she despises manipulative games and tendsta see through ’em quickly, due to her own manipulative Nature.”

Everybody in the room burst into more laughter, all agreeing with her on an Air Witch certainly being manipulative, if and when she felt like it.

“Air rules the mental processes, and Air Witches often have a few problems in that area–they’re frequently nervous, jittery types, prone to panic attacks.” She glanced up with a smirk, all of them knowing she wasn’t necessarily jittery or prone to panic attacks, but she could certainly be nervous a lot.

“In Nature, we find Crosswinds, Tornadoes, and Hurricanes–it seems that Wind, itself has an insane pattern. The Air Witch’s the same–when angered or hurt, she can easily cross the line into the Realm of Madness; she may entertain notions of Revenge, but since she Changes her mind constantly, she rarely sees ’em through.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely you,” Ash snickered. “I’ve seen ya cross that line for a few hours before, but never actually do anything about whatever’d upsetcha to that point.”

Aerin merely smirked before glancing down again. “The windy Air Witch’s easily depressed and is known to go into a funk over the smallest of things–however, she rarely stays down for long.”

“Hell, that part there sounds a lot like _you_ sometimes,” the ginger said as she shot her husband a look.

“The Winds’re important to the Element of Air, but they aren’t the Element, itself–however, the two’re inseparable. The Element of Air encircles the Globe–it’s the atmosphere. Every Sunrise and Sunset takes place in its domain. In this manner, we discover how the Air Witch connectsta the Earthly Elements–she Incarnates the Aura of them, the same way the atmosphere’s the Aura of the Planet. Often, the Air Witch’s the catalyst needed to Create a Change–she’s Mysterious and unpredictable.”

They all agreed that if she wasn’t an Air Witch, they didn’t know _what_ her Element truly was any more than she did.

“Now, as for the Dark side of an Air Witch.” The young woman quickly flipped the page, a deadly serious look on her face. “Don’t threaten an Air Witch or what she holds dear, as she’s fiercely protective–when she feels threatened, she goes into overdrive and absolutely won’t rest till the threat’s Destroyed completely.”

“Definitely you, Aerin,” Aidan laughed.

“She rarely practices _Defensive magick,_ preferring instead to allow those who dare to attack face their Karmic backlash instead, as she’s always willing to accept hers. She can be manipulative in this manner, and may not even realize it.”

“I think we can all agree that you’re well aware of being manipulative in that sense,” Bobby said.

“Damn right, I am,” she agreed with a nod. “Usually well-versed in _Destructive magick,_ the Air Witch takes all acts of magick deadly seriously–she insists that a simple Blessing carries the same Power behind it as a two-hour Ritual.”

Once again, they all agreed that those points fit her to a T.

“When angered, the Emotion simply hasta run its course, and that course can be decidedly ugly,” Aerin read, already sensing their agreement. “Just as Air feeds Fire, the Air Witch feeds her own inner Fire when she’s angry–she stews and won’t move beyond her Anger till she’s ready. Once she is, it’s much easier for her to simply remove the Influence from her Life entirely–she’ll cut people outta her Life without a second Thought.”

Even the McKagans agreed that she’d certainly done that with Sabrina, whether it was just that Eve or several Years ago. It clearly took a lot to make her mad enough to cut someone so close outta her Life completely, and none of them ever wanted to be on the receiving End of that kinda Anger. She’d brought a lotta good to their Lives in various ways, and they weren’t willing to give that up by any means, and especially not over something so stupid as a chosen Romantic partner.

From there, the young woman choseta move on to the Path of the Fire Witch, although she stuck to the same principal as before. It was a pretty long section, just like she’d sworn it was, and it was already getting kinda late–she said she’d either let folks borrow the book, if they didn’t just buy their own copy, or she’d read it in full some other Time.

But according to _Elemental Witch,_ the Path of the Fire Witch wasn’t for the faint of heart by any means–strong and Courageous, they’d rarely take no for an answer. Fire Witches were considered the Rebels of the Elemental Witches–they were said to possess a Joy of Life that was unequaled, and they were extremely sociable Creatures. It was a bit funny how those traits seemed to fit almost everyone in the room, some more so than others, but they could all agree that those who seemed the most rebellious often seemed pretty Fiery, too. And those who fit that particular personality archetype certainly didn’t take no for an answer, no matter what they were trying to achieve.

As Aerin continued to read, she stated that Fire Witches were all about individuality, each one being highly unique. And for the most part, their Lives were beautiful and poetic, yet there often lurked an underlying current of tragedy–such as all her familial problems before leaving North Carolina. There was no typical personal style to the Fire Witch, ’cuz it varied as much as individual each Flame ever lit. She also said that one thing a person could be sure of was that a Fire Witch’d shine, ’cuz whether in blue jeans or Diamonds, they’d know her by the confident Aura that surrounded her.

“I’m usually anything _but_ confident–at least, on the inside–but that’s neither here, nor there,” the young woman chuckled.

“Well, keep going, ’cuz this is actually interesting,” Duff told her.

“Then I’ma skip a few paragraphs and move on to the good stuff,” she said as she flipped the page. “The Fire Witch lovesta dance and is very seductive, passionate, and lusty–she can be indulgent when it comesta her sexual Nature.”

“That’s definitely her and Ash!” Aidan laughed, making her husband grin deviously.

“She often is very active and usually lovesta participate in sporting events,” Aerin continued. “She’s bold and daring, and frequently pushes thingsta the absolute limit.”

“Okay, not so much on the sports part, but definitely when it comesta pushing limits,” the youngest bassist chuckled.

“’Cuz of her indulgent habits, the Fire Witch may unknowingly enable addictions or foster one of her own–some Fire Witches may have addictive personalities,” she read, knowing that much was true about her–but the next sentence was even more so. “When a Fire Witch loves someone, she does so with a heart so pure that she can overlook any defects in the person for a long Time.”

“Kinda like you did with Sabrina,” her blonde husband mused.

“Exactly,” the young woman agreed. “This can place her in troublesome relationships till she’s finally had enough and moves on.”

By this point, the kids’d all fallen asleep in a pile of tangled limbs that closely resembled a litter of puppies.

“When a Fire Witch moves on, she’s a compulsion to completely Destroy the previous bond and is capable of being cruel in order to see to it that the situation’s over for good,” Aerin read. “She’s much more comfortable knowing that it can’t be repaired, and can move herself forward more easily by not allowing herself to wonder about the Past.”

“No Wonder ya cut ties with your mother so easily,” Duff mused. “’Cuz I’ve been wondering about that ever since we met, considering how close I always was with my own mother.”

Nodding, she continued reading, the next paragraph certainly explaining a few thingsta those gathered in the great room. Philosophically, the Fire Witch’d an open mind, ’cuz she was quite literally the proverbial free thinker of the Elemental Witches. Like the Air Witch in being extremely just due to the placement of her Element–both above _and_ below the Earth–she’d the ability to see all sides of any argument. It was pretty much like these particular Witches were the walking definition of the term _devil’s advocate,_ and that part really started to make sense.

Another thing that quickly started to make sense was how much emphasis the young woman put on certain things in Life. Fire Witches valued Honesty and Courage above all else, there being nothing they detested as much as a liar. It certainly explained how and why she refused to put up with even a white lie told to help uphold a surprise, even such as Bobby’s visit after the _Stadium Tour_ of 2020 Ended. But something else that suddenly made a lotta sense was when she read that Fire Witches were very generous with their Time and money when it came to charity. She might not consider her friends a charity case, _per sé,_ but she was certainly being pretty generous in having offered to be their surrogate without even being asked.

“Fire’s a creative Element, especially when seen in its Regenerative aspect,” Aerin read, grabbing her book when one of the babies decided to squirm and knocked it askew. “In the same manner that the Phoenix rises from the ashes or the Sun undergoes an Eclipse, a Fire Witch puts herself through a constant process of Growth by tearing herself down in order to rebuild herself anew.”

“Whyddaya think I picked the Phoenix as my emblem after I left BVB?” the youngest bassist asked with a grin.

“Kinda like the Air Witch can be an instrumental catalyst for Change, the Fire Witch can be instrumental in helping others move beyond their own heartbreaks and pains and Begin their Lives again,” she told them as she glanced up.

“You’re definitely that,” Ash agreed. “’Cuz let’s face it–you’re a big part of the reason why I didn’t give up on my solo Music, even when I wanted to.”

The young woman was unable to help an embarrassed smile as she looked down again. “Often, the Fire Witch’ll take painful experiences and channel ’em into some form of Art–she may be especially talented at working artistically with Metal, even if she doesn’t know it yet.”

“Definitely you, sweetheart,” Bobby said. “I’ve caughtcha pouring all kindsa shit into your stories, various drawings, and even in your choice of Music from one Day to the next.”

_“Mmm hmm,”_ she hummed, sighing as he nuzzled her temple again. “The Fire Witch holds herself to an uncompromising code of Honor and Ethics–she’ll bestow Justice and be benevolent at the same Time. She operates from a basic moral code of what’s right and what’s wrong, and rarely will go against her gut instinct.”

The next couple paragraphs that Aerin read said that friends of the Fire Witch were used to her stealing the spotlight, ’cuz she simply knew how to get attention. One of their most notable qualities was apparently that they Naturally projected a warm, yet noble Aura, which tied back into how highly they valued Courage and Honesty. When it came to that noble part of their Aura, it even said that if one didn’t wanna hear the Truth, they’d best not ask a Fire Witch. Apparently, they could be both gentle and blunt, and the key to dealing with how they’d often dish out the Truth wasta hear them out.

However, much like an Air Witch in their ability to cross that fine line between Sanity and utter Madness when hurt or angered, their Fiery counterparts could be extreme in their behaviors and Emotions. They tended to see things in terms of Black and White, due to the strong moral instincts mentioned a couple paragraphs back. Yet, while they could be rigid in certain areas, they were apparently the most playful and Joyous of the Elemental Witches–they seemed to always be smiling, always willing to try something new. And it pretty much went without saying that they were the onesta push harder and climb higher, ’cuz there were absolutely no limits for Fire folk.

Another of the many roles of a Fire Witch was one of Independence, ’cuz they’d encourage people to stand up for themselves and wouldn’t hesitate to stand up for their own Selves. Coming under Fire by others didn’t scare them in the slightest–rather, it was actually highly Inspiring for them. The point about them being most comfortable when free to express their opinion completely and usually detesting censorship certainly fit Aerin to a T, alongside many other points thus far.

“Moving on to the Dark side, though,” said young woman chuckled. “’Cuz after this, I’ma give it a break so I don’t overload anyone–and ’cuz these babies’re tormenting my bladder again!”

Everybody in the room chuckled so they wouldn’t wake the kids as she turned the page.

“The vibrant Fire Witch’s her Dark side, too–she can be pushy and very sarcastic,” she read. “Stubborn to the bone, she doesn’t deal well with disagreements–she fully realizes that no one can be right all the Time, unless, of course, it’s her.”

“I can agree with the stubborn part,” Aidan mused with a grin.

“Oh, Gods–you’ve no idea, sugar,” her husband laughed, careful to keep his voice down. “I’ve toldja about how she acted after that concert she and Bobby met at!”

Aerin merely rolled her eyes and flipped him the bird, said Silver Fox chuckling as he gently squeezed her waist.

“Ya know it’s true!” he told her.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the young woman dead-panned as she looked back down. “When angered, she may’ve a tendency to make fun of others. She can be quite arrogant and, as a result, is very hard to teach–the Fire Witch learns best when left to do her own thing, ’cuz there’s no substitute for Life experience.”

Another round of nods ensued, everyone agreeing that she was pretty much the walking epitome of that statement, as well.

“At times, her sarcasm can Manifest as a biting sense of humor, but at other Times, it’s disparaging and hurtful,” she continued. “She may’ve a bad habit of talking down to others and, instead of listening, prefersta play the Devil’s advocate. When doing so, signals can easily be crossed, and what she thinks is simply pointing out alternative options for othersta consider, they may interpret as her telling ’em they’re wrong, when that’s often not the case at all.”

Snapping the book shut after grabbing a random piece of paper to use as a bookmark, she told them to think over what she’d been reading as she pushed herself up outta her gray-hair husband’s lap. Any answers about why she acted certain ways–such as her cruelty during that Skype call earlier–were now pretty much right in front of them. They might not all be due to what she called her Primary Element, but that didn’t mean that certain points she’d read about from this book weren’t true for her at all.

As they thought it over, even Aidan and Ash couldn’t deny that their friend was certainly a special woman, and in more ways than one. She embodied so many different traits that it almost seemed like she shoulda been born as twins, herself–one who embodied the traits and masculine Energies of Air and Fire, another who embodied the traits and feminine Energies of Earth and Water. No one could ever have her be a part of their Life and say that they weren’t lucky, nor ever have her leave their Life and say they Wished she hadn’t be a part of it to start with. Anyone who had the latter happen to them and said they Wished they’d never met her was a flat-out liar trying to hide something as far as they were concerned.

Due to Ember already being asleep, the trio of dads decided it was best for the Purdys to just spend the Night so they wouldn’t have to wake her up. All three grabbed one of the kindergarteners and started heading for the foyer, Aidan and Susan hanging back to help their friend. She shot them a grateful smile as she leaned on the a bit, unable to bite back a yawn since pregnancy was so exhausting for just about anyone.

It’d certainly been an interesting Day, no matter how long or short it was, and none of them could deny that any more than they could say they didn’t have noses. Aerin’d to bite back a slightly delirious giggle as she made her way to the master suite, her friends breaking away to find their own husbands as Bobby joined her. She certainly hadn’t expected any of this when these babies’d woken her for a potty break at the ass-crack of Dawn, but these were the kinda Days she loved. Everything being unplanned and just happening left her feeling lighter and more carefree as much as loved, and that was why she wouldn’t give up her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so quite a bit of this chapter came from another Pagan book I half-own since I swiped it from my Birth Creature. LOL! _Elemental Witch_ by Tammy Sullivan was actually my gateway book, if one will, 'cuz it was the one that said Birth Creature threw at me when I was 15 and opened up the door to Paganism for me. It's definitely a good Beginner's book, 'cuz my personal belief's thatcha can't really go anywhere without learning more about yourself first, and that includes your Element.
> 
> Hopefully, this chapter gives a lil more Insight as to the kinda personality Aerin's supposed to have and why. I think I've done pretty good with covering how flighty, yet in Control, not to mention fuckin' protective she can be when she wantsta so far, but I'll leave the final judgments up to anyone reading.  
> ~Firefly


	9. Nine

_“Mammina,_ whas _sexy_ mean?”

Having not expected that kinda question outta the mouth of her almost five-Year-old son, Aerin momentarily choked on the sip of Pepsi she’d just taken. Said son gasped and scrambled onto the couch beside her to whack her on the back like he’d seen her do to Zeta when she curled around her massive belly. At eight months pregnant, she couldn’t wait to be done and able to turn these boogers over to her friends, but in the meantime, she couldn’t be choking like this since they needed her alive.

“Where on Earth chu hear _dat_ word at, chu booger?” she finally managed to ask once she’d caught her breath.

“Jack’s big bubba used it while we were playing!” Zep answered. _“Nuuuu_ knows what it means, so I just let him tinks I _nuuuu_ hear it.”

“Chu’s a devious lil punk,” the young woman chuckled as she ruffling his hair, which made him giggle and bat at her hand.

_“Mammina!”_ he squealed.

“Chu’s just likey chu daddy wiff chu hair,” Aerin told him. “But to be sexy meansta be attractive to someone else.”

“It does?” The lil boy cocked his head like a curious puppy. “So, _Paparino_ sexy to chu?”

_“Mmm hmm,_ very much so,” she answered, nodding.

“But chu _luz Paparino,_ too, right?” Zep asked.

“That, I do,” the young woman chuckled. “A lotta people that’re in Love like we are think their partner’s sexy.”

“Dear Gods–what the hell’d I just walk in on?”

Looking up, Aerin couldn’t help cracking up at the somewhat horrified look on her Silver Fox’s face as he held Zeta against his chest, one ear pressed to it while he covered the other with his free hand. No doubt he’d thought he still had closeta ten more Years before he’d to go through this again, but that was one thing he hadn’t realized about his wife. While there were obviously some things she wouldn’t tell a five-Year-old, she didn’t believe in lying to them or trying to brush off their questions. Kids were gonna be kids, and no doubt if she didn’t answer their son’s questions, he’d just go hunting answers elsewhere–and she’d rather he hear it from her or his daddy, not someone else.

_“Your_ son just asked me what _sexy_ meant,” she told him once she’d Calmed down.

“Jesus–where the hell’d he hear that?” Bobby groaned, settling in his recliner.

“Apparently Jack’s older brother used it in front of the boys,” the young woman explained. “But hey, I don’t really mind answering such a question–in fact, I’d rather he hear it from us.”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” he agreed. “I still think they’re a bit young, though.”

“Oh, no disagreement there,” Aerin chuckled. “But considering that to be sexy’s to be attractive to someone else at its most basic, it’s not really that bad of an explanation.”

“True enough,” the Silver Fox laughed.

“But like I was telling him when y’all came in, a lotta folks in Love think their partner’s sexy,” she reiterated, now that even Zeta’s ears were uncovered.

_“Mammina_ tinks _Paparino_ ish sexy,” Zep giggled when his twin looked confused.

Said daddy snorted in an effort not to choke on his own drink, his face turning a Light shade of pink.

“Chu tinks _Mammina’s_ sexy, too, right?” he asked, locking eyes with him.

“Enough that I’ma get myself in trouble, if I give a better–or maybe worse–answer than that, son,” Bobby answered.

Naturally, both kids wanted to know why their mama thought an old man was sexy, and Aerin couldn’t help laughing again as she grabbed her tablet. It took her a couple minutes, but she finally found what she’d been looking for–which was a Facebook page she’d been following since before she actually met him. Zeta climbed down outta her daddy’s lap to join them on the couch, and she let the kids snuggle against her sides as she laid the tablet on her belly.

Both kids’ eyes widened in surprise as she scrolled down the page, letting them look at various pictures of Bobby and the rest of Poison from decades ago. The whole Time she was scrolling, the young woman explained that their daddy hadn’t always been old and gray-haired. At one point in his Life, he’d looked a lot like Bubba Zach did now, just with far longer hair and a clean-shaven face instead of short hair and a goatee.

She told them as they took in all the pictures of him from those old magazines that she didn’t particularly care whether he was young and brown-haired, or old and gray-haired. It was what was on the inside–like his kind, caring Nature and wicked sense of humor–that mattered to her more than how he looked. Sure, she’d kill to be able to go back in Time to get the younger version of him, as far as his looks went, but there were parts of him she was glad she didn’t have to put up with. In thinking about things like that, she was far more glad to have the old Silver Fox versus the young, wily brunette thing that always got into trouble.

“What chu _nuuuu_ likey ’bout _Paparino?”_ Zeta asked, looking up from the tablet screen with a curious look on her face.

“Well, chu knows how _Mammina nuuuu_ really likey big-girl Grape juice, right?” she countered.

“Uh, huh!” they both answered, nodding.

_“Paparino_ used to drink a _lotta_ big-girl Grape juice, and other stuffs like it,” Aerin explained. “Dey made him a lil too goofy in a bad way, and dat’s one reason why _Mammina_ likey teh old, gray-haired version of him betters.”

_“Ohhhh.”_ The twins nodded again. “Daddy _nuuuu_ be bad goofeh!”

“Good goofy, likey telling jokes, ish fine– _Mammina’d_ rather haz dat than teh bad goofy dat’s gon’ get him in trouble,” the young woman explained. “But when ish all said and done, him’s still sexy to _Mammina,_ either way.”

Zep and Zeta giggled, those giggles turning into peals of laughter as they looked over and caught sight of Bobby’s Beet-red face.

“Woman, you’re trying to make sure my tombstone says _Death by Embarrassment,”_ he groaned.

“Nah.” Aerin chuckled as she rubbed her belly. “Your tombstone’s gonna have a picture of ya grinning, ’cuz I’ma make sure ya die with a smile on your face.”

She turned her attention back to the twins, saying that there were things about their daddy that’d always make him attractive to her, no matter how old he got. The things she’d already mentioned, the way his eyes’d twinkle when he was good in a good mood or turn to Stone when he was in a bad one, and just the way he smiled–they all drew her in like a Luna Moth to a Flame. In fact, it was mostly that gorgeous smile of his that made her knees go weak and her heart flutter in her chest like a Butterfly.

Zep and Zeta shot an Awed look between their parents as the young woman shot him a fond smile of her own, only for Bobby to respond with the one she loved so much. Both were further Awed when they felt their mother’s breath hitch, as well as a slight Change in her heartbeat before said heart took off at what seemed like the speed of Light to them.

That sweet moment was shattered, though, when Aerin suddenly winced and rubbed her belly, which made her husband sit up a bit straighter. He knew that it might not be the big Day as much as it very well could be, given that she’d given Birth to their own twins about a month before her actual due date. On the other hand, she mighta simply winced ’cuz one of the babies’d kicked her in a weird spot, so it’d hurt a lil more than a normal kick. Without her actually saying what was wrong, there was no real way to tell which one it was–till their own twins suddenly gasped at the same Time her eyes widened.

“I’d get on the horn with Dr. Kenda, if I were you,” she told him, sounding surprised.

“It’s actually Time?” the Silver Fox asked as he rose.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I _didn’t_ just piss myself,” Aerin retorted. “So, you tell me why the couch’d be wet, if I didn’t piss myself.”

“All right, all right,” he chuckled, heading off to grab his phone. “I’ll give Ash and Aidan a call once I’ve gotten in touch with Dr. Kenda.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” the young woman agreed, her words cut off with a pained moan.

“Not to mention Zach or Zoe so these two can go spend the Night with one of them,” Bobby called back over his shoulder as he headed upstairs.

In the middle of another contraction, she didn’t dare try to respond to that so she wouldn’t have to risk screaming, which’d only scare the kids. Said kids whimpered as they looked up at her as she let her head tip against the back of the couch, her hands gently gripping her belly. Naturally, they were both worried since her expression wasn’t a good one, and the fact that she wasn’t saying anything didn’t help that.

As the contraction soon started to ebb, Aerin’s gentle grip on her belly slowly loosened to the point that her hands were really just laying atop the massive orb. The babies within took their chanceta squirm as much as they could, each one instinctively trying to get lined up properly for Birth. Obviously, only one could be born at a Time, but that didn’t stop them both from trying to line up the way they needed to be. It was certainly uncomfortable for her, but she’d been through this once before when Zep and Zeta were vying to settle into position as she went into labor.

Lifting her head from where it’d tilted back, the young woman managed to give her own kids a reassuring smile as she pulled them against her sides. She didn’t mince any words as she explained that having a baby–or two like she was now–really hurt, but the pain wouldn’t last forever. It’d go away once their _cousins_ were born, just like it’d done after they were born, and there were waysta help her feel it less till that big moment arrived at some point in the next few hours.

“But that’s why chu’s gon’ go spend teh Night wiff Bubba Zach or Sissy Zoe,” she told them. “’Cuz _Mammina’s_ gon’ get loud and scary, even though I’m not gon’ mean to, and I’d rather chu not have to see and hear dat.”

“But chu’s gon’ be otays, right?” Zep asked, looking uncertain.

“She sure is, and so are the babies.”

Looking over at the doorway that led to the foyer, Aerin saw her OB/GYN in addition to the same midwife and nurses who’d attended her own twins’ Births. “Thank the Gods.”

“Ya know how long yet?” Dr. Kenda asked.

“Only a couple contractions while I was explaining what _sexy_ meant to the kids,” the young woman chuckled. “Didn’t see any point in sounding the alarm till I’d a definite sign, and I’d say my water breaking’d be it.”

“Yeah, that’s usually a pretty good one,” Kelly laughed.

“Chu two boogers go wiff _Paparino,_ Miss Jasmine, and Miss Holly,” Aerin told her kids. “Dr. Kenda needsta examine me, and chu _definitely_ don’t need to be seeing dat.”

Giggling, Zep and Zeta gave their mother a quick hug before running toward their daddy and the nurses, said daddy chuckling as he came over to give her a quick kiss. He said that he’d gotten in touch with Zach, who was on his way to claim the kids for the Night, but he was still working on getting in touch with one of the Purdys. Considering that it was right around Noon, he figured they were down for a nap or in the middle of lunch, but he knew they’d have a few hoursta get in touch with them. If this Time around went anything like last Time, they’d have closer to twelve hours than not, so they wouldn’t miss their babies’ Births for shit.

Nodding, she gently pulled him down for that kiss before sending him off with a pat to his rump, which made him chuckle. Bobby knew she didn’t like even him present during a pelvic exam, if he didn’t need to be, and somebody’d to pack overnight bags for their kids. On his way back upstairsta do just that, he shot a quick text to his older son so he’d just come straight upstairs and not possibly walk in on something so intimate.

By the Time Zach arrived and subsequently made off with his younger siblings for the Night, the Silver Fox’d managed to get in touch with Aidan. It turned out that Ash was out at one of the houses he’d been in the process of flipping recently, so his phone was most likely in his car to avoid having to replace it. She said that she’d head out to get him, ’cuz no doubt he was gonna have at least a mild case of prenatal panic, and she didn’t want him driving in that kinda condition.

“Works for me,” he told her as he walked back into the great room. “I’d rather no one get hurt, ’cuz Aerin’s gonna be in enough pain for at least three people by the Time it’s all over.”

“Try five and a-half, love,” the young woman chuckled from where she’d been settled in his recliner, complete with fresh clothing.

_“I think we’ll both take your word for it,”_ Aidan laughed, revealing that she was on speaker. _“So, what’s the status update?”_

“Three centimeters and eighty percent effaced,” she answered. “Basically, a long fuckin’ way to go, ’cuz I ain’t nearly dilated enough, but my cervix’s so soft, it’s practically Jello.”

_“Way to make sure I never want Jello again,”_ the ginger said. _“I was just telling Bobby that I’d head out to get Ash since he’s at his flip, and I don’t want him driving, if he starts suffering some prenatal panic.”_

“Y’all ain’t really gotta come over just yet, if y’all don’t wanna,” Aerin told her. “If this goes like it did with Zep and Zeta, we’re looking at roughly twelve hours before these two even think of making their grand entrance.”

_“I’d still rather go get him, just to be damn sure he doesn’t try driving,”_ she chuckled. _“My mom’s in town again, so she’s more than willing to watch Ember for the Night.”_

“Hey, short of chaining y’all to chairs, what can I do to stop y’all?” the young woman laughed. “He just better be ready to get bitten, ’cuz I’m biting whoever’s closest when a contraction hits.”

“She ain’t kidding about that, either,” Bobby warned her with a chuckle of his own. “And might I suggest warning Ash to be ready to either blindfold himself, or get nekkid?”

_“Do I even wanna know?”_ Aidan asked, sounding a bit wary.

“Let’s just say that Aerin didn’t give a shit about Zach and Zoe being in the room and spent the majority of her first labor nekkid as a Jaybird,” he laughed. “And I was right there with her after she quite literally ripped my shirt off me, ’cuz no way was I letting her rip my PJ britches off, too.”

_“Hey, can’t say a lil nudity ever hurt anyone,”_ the ginger said. _“Long as no fuckin’ happens, I’d even join in on that.”_

The Silver Fox laughed again as he said that such a thing _might_ happen, but he fully Intended to either run them outta the great room or take her upstairs before it actually did. It just depended on whether her labor stalled out or not, which he was hoping _wouldn’t_ happen this Time around since it was a bitch to get her jumpstarted again without hurting her. Naturally, he’d never say no to a romp unless banned by doctor’s orders or otherwise unwell, but that didn’t mean it was as much fun as a spontaneous romp.

Aerin couldn’t help another pained groan just as they Ended their phone call, another contraction starting to grip her torso again. Her husband was quick to get her attention focused on him, kneeling next to the recliner as he helped her breathe her way through it. Jasmine and Holly were already working on that herbal tea she’d used last Time, but it was still a good way from being done, so it wasn’t available quite yet.

Luckily, the pain wasn’t quite as bad as it’d no doubt be by the Time it was all said and done, so she managed to get through this one pretty well. She still decided that she wanted to be in a fairly warm bath to help numb her, which Bobby wasn’t about to deny her. Working with the OB/GYN and midwife, they quickly got her up to the master suite, knowing that the Calmer and more relaxed they could keep her, the better off everyone’d be. That’d help keep her labor from stalling out, even if it still took a few more hours than what she’d no doubt like, and that’d be a good thing all around.


	10. Ten

“C’mon, sweetheart–sing it with me… _Wheeeen_ – _”_

_“_ – _I hear the Music…Lawd gon’ let it plaaaay… Sumthin’ like that…”_

Bobby used his left hand to massage his wife’s back, his right tapping out the intro riff to one of her favorite Poison songs as she straddled his lap in their tub. He’d found out pretty quick when she was in labor with their babies that getting her to sing helped her cope with the agony of her innards wringing themselvesta Death, as she described labor. Well, it’d help up to the point that she stalled out or hit the pushing phase, but he knew she was still quite a ways out from that part. Till then, he was Intent on doing everything he could to distract her, if only so he’d still be able to hear later on that Night.

Only a few beats into tapping out the intro riff of _Let it Play_ for her, he heard Aidan’s voice as she snapped at her husband to take a fuckin’ chill pill. He couldn’t help an amused chuckle, having known he was no doubt to freak out somewhat once he’d gotten the news. Technically, this was the first Time he’d to go through this part of a pregnancy, considering that both parties were robbed of it last Time around.

_“Didja ever get up on the wrong side of bed with an achin’ head and just fall apart?”_ Aerin sang, ignoring her friends bursting into the master bathroom. _“You’re runnin’ late, the boss is bitchin’, it’s cold outside, and the car won’t start… Well, I don’t mean to bitch, I swear, ’cuz we all got our crossta bear_ – _”_

“I’m not even sure I wanna ask why they’re singing a Poison song,” Ash murmured as he took in the scene they’d walked in on.

“’Cuz it helps keep her from rendering me deaf,” the Silver Fox chuckled before diving into the chorus with his wife.

_“But when I hear the Music, all my troubles just fade away_ – _when I hear the Music, let it play, gotta let it play… When I hear the Music, sure as Darkness, I can see the Day_ – _when I hear the Music, let it plaaaay…let it play!”_

“Damn, Duff wasn’t kidding when he said she can sound identical to Bret when she feels like it,” Aidan chuckled.

“Just like I can sound like CC, if I put my mind to it,” her own husband laughed, kneeling down next to the tub. He was cautious about rubbing the young woman’s upper back, even as he joined the pair.

_“Life’s just rented Space gettin’ laid to waste when the lines on mah face say I’m growin’ older_ – _just a stitch in Time, gonna save my mind when the weight of the World lies on my shoulders! Yeah, well, soon I won’t have a placeta fit, but I’ll cross that Bridge when I come to it!”_ Her voice slowly rose in pitch throughout that second verse, making her husband dig his fingers into her lumbar a bit harder.

“Ya all right?” the youngest bassist asked, worried that he’d hurt her.

_“Con…trac…tion!”_ Aerin groaned, her entire body stiff as a board.

“Her voice rises like that, if she’s mid-lyric when one hits,” Bobby explained when he looked confused. “We figured that out when she was in labor with Zep and Zeta.”

That groan quickly morphed into some kinda noise that the youngest bassist, nor Aidan could readily identify, whether they wanted to or not. It sounded almost like the same kinda wail folks related to the Mythical Banshee from Celtic folklore, but mixed with more of a deep, guttural growl. And at the same Time their friend let out that ungodly racket, her fingers practically turned into talons as she dug her nails into her husband’s flesh almost deep enough to draw blood.

Said Silver Fox let out a groan of his own, but this one didn’t quite sound like he was in pain–well, not completely, anywhore. He was obviously in pain, judging by his slight wince, but it was also equally obvious that the pain was turning him on and he was fighting to behave himself. Whether that was from having a bit of an audience or to stay on his wife’s good side, they weren’t too sure, and they didn’t wanna know.

Aerin’s pained cry slowly died into a mewl, then a whimper, as she stopped digging her nails into him once the contraction finally started to ebb. Her hips started to move somewhat rhythmically, drawing a soft gasp from him, even though he didn’t do the slightest thing to stop her. Ash didn’t even bother looking confused, ’cuz he’d already figured it out, but Aidan’s momentary confusion made him chuckle. That chuckle grew into a full-on laugh that got him lightly smacked when her expression shifted to one of Enlightenment and she was forced to bite back laughter of her own.

“Quit laughing at me,” the young woman veritably growled.

“I _wasn’t_ laughing atcha,” he swore. “I was laughing at Aidan’s expression.”

“And what, pray tell, was so funny about her expression?” she snapped.

“Took me a minute to figure out why even Bobby’s moaning since I didn’t see your hips moving at first,” the ginger chuckled. “So no, he really _wasn’t_ laughing atcha.”

“He’d be wiseta keep it that way,” Aerin grumbled as she shifted again.

“Gods, I’d beg ya to stop it, but I know you’re just gonna bite me, if I do,” the Silver Fox groaned, his head tipping back against the edge of the tub.

“I might bitecha, anywhore–ya taste like Chicken,” his wife snickered.

“Do I _look_ like I’ve Feathersta you?” Bobby asked, lifting his head to look her in the eye.

_“Om, nom, nom, nom,”_ she said, mocking eating his shoulder.

“Damn, she’s either delirious, or a cannibal–I’m not sure which,” Ash laughed.

“Mostly delirious, but I wouldn’t put cannibalism beneath her right now,” his older counterpart chuckled, gasping again. “Fuck a Duck!”

Neither of the other couple could really hear the young woman’s response, considering her face was buried against his throat, but they figured out the basic gist of it pretty quickly. After all, it wasn’t very hard to tell what she’d done upon squirming again when the Silver Fox let out an even sharper gasp that was followed by a pleasured groan. The other couple was a bit startled by that, but quick to turn for the bathroom door–only to be stopped when she reached out and grabbed her friend by the hair.

Letting out a yelp that was equal parts pain and surprise, he wasn’t too sure whether to try jerking his hair free so he could leave or not. Aerin never messed with his hair any more than she messed with that of her own husband, mostly ’cuz he didn’t really like it. For her to break one of their top boundaries of play–even though this was far from being one of their scenes–made it pretty clear that she meant business.

Turning just enough to glare at him, she told Ash that while he didn’t necessarily have to fuck her, he wasn’t sitting on the sidelines for anymore of her labor. These babies belonged to him and the ginger, so he was lucky she wasn’t making him take Bobby’s place for everything from being punched and bitten to having to actually fuck her. Given those very valid points–and the fact that she was clearly _far_ from being in a subbie mood–the younger bassist simply nodded as much as she could, heaving a relieved sigh as she finally let go of his hair and set him free.

_“Ugggghhhh,”_ she groaned a good half-hour later when their attempt still hadn’t reaped the result she’d wanted.

“I know, I know, sweetheart,” the Silver Fox panted, gently lifting her hips. “Let this contraction ebb, and I’ll go get what we need to rectify that.”

“Do we even wanna know?” Ash asked, sounding wary.

“Just tag in for a minute, kid,” he chuckled, moving his wife outta his lap only when the contraction gripping her’d Ended.

“Wait a minute– _what!?”_ the younger bassist veritably squawked.

“I mean so that she’s a hand to squeeze or what have ya,” Bobby laughed. He didn’t seem to care what the other couple saw–or _didn’t_ see, for that matter–as he pushed himself up, hard-on proudly trumpeting its desire.

_“Uhhhh…”_ Even Aidan seemed a lil star-struck, her eyes the size of dinner plates as she openly stared at his crotch.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah–she’s told me ever since we met that _I_ shoulda been the one to use the name Rockett,” the Silver Fox laughed, his voice fading slightly as he headed into their bedroom.

“Like I once asked Ash–how the fuck do ya manage to hide _that_ in your britches?” she asked with a laugh of her own.

“Lots and lotsa practice,” Bobby snickered, rummaging through something. “Ah, ha–I knew we still had it!”

“I’m almost terrified to ask,” Ash said, biting back a wince as his friend grabbed his hand in a bone-crunching grip.

“Something ya wouldn’t suspect at first glance, no matter how well ya know her,” he told him, Returning with something unexpected in his hand.

“What the–holy shit!” the younger bassist gasped, his eyes widening to the point that he looked like they were about to explode outta their sockets. “Is that what I _think_ it is?”

“It better be the bigger one,” Aerin growled as she finally loosened her grip.

Her husband chuckled as he reassured her that it was, indeed the bigger of what he’d headed into their bedroom to grab. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that her body was gonna be stubborn and keep her right on the brink of getting off, if she didn’t get a round of double penetration. She didn’t always like such a thing, if only ’cuz she wasn’t really into pain, but there were a few occasions where she needed it to actually get off.

The other couple was still processing that what he’d gone to grab from one of their nightstands was actually a butt-plug–and a decently big one, from the looks of it. Judging by looks alone, it’d to be damn closeta his own size in circumference, but appeared to be only about half as long. Even if it’d been the exact same size, though, it still seemed like something way too big to fit in _anyone’s_ ass without practically ripping the person to shreds. How on Earth their friend was gonna be able to tolerate it–and while in the throes of labor, at that–was so far beyond them, they couldn’t even Begin to put it into words.

“Deep breath, sweetheart,” Bobby murmured once he’d gotten her moved so she was leaning over the edge of the tub.

“Ya remember what I taughtcha, right?” she asked, her head resting on her forearms and turned so he could hear her.

“Slow and steady, or you’re gonna show me how it feels,” the Silver Fox chuckled.

“Wait, she can seriously…?” Ash looked just as flabbergasted as his own wife as he wedged the toy against her ass.

“She can take bigger than this, if Duff happensta be in town,” he snickered. “But since he’s not and I doubted _you’d_ be up for such a thing…”

The younger bassist’s face flushed a deep red at the mere Thought of even Animalistic sex with his best friend.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Bobby chuckled. “Since Duff’s unavailable and you’re unwilling, I gotta go with the next best thing since it’s not like I’ve two dicks.”

“Gods, I hope ya don’t,” the young woman laughed. “’Cuz I don’t wanna be married to an alien!”

When she winced and reached out to grab Ash’s shoulder, her nails digging in seconds later, he got all the warning he needed that he’d best wait a few moments. Getting the butt-plug in was already painful enough for her on a normal Day since it wasn’t something she indulged in _every_ Time they went at it. He didn’t wanna imagine how bad it’d most likely hurt for her, if he’d tried even gently working it in while she was in the middle of a contraction.

Aerin slowly worked her way up to that noise that was some odd cross between a growl and a Banshee’s wail, not even noticing when she pushed back against the toy. Then again, the contraction she was in the midst of hurt so much worse than anal ever did for her that she couldn’t guarantee she’d have noticed, even if she _hadn’t_ been contracting at the moment.

Once that contraction’d ebbed, Bobby gently rubbed her back as he applied the slightest pressure to the toy he still held against her. Gently kissing and nipping at her shoulder to help distract her from even that, he slowly worked it into her, setting off a rapid succession of moans and whimpers. Those pleasured Sounds were like Music to his ears, stoking his ardor again, despite their friends still in the room and watching curiously. He couldn’t help having started to lose his erection as they’d waited out that contraction, but at least he didn’t require Viagra or the like to get it up again with a quickness.

_“Ahhhh,”_ she moaned, her hips jerking as the toy finally slipped in.

“Ya all right, sweetheart?” the Silver Fox asked, now massaging her hips.

_“Mmm,_ fuck,” Aerin whimpered, trying to back herself against him. “Just get back to fuckin’ me already!”

“Ya sure ya wanna stay like this?” he asked. “I know your knees hate hard surfaces worse than mine do.”

“Fuck my damn knees!” the young woman growled. “Just fuck me, or I swear, your nuts’ll come off at the same Time Ash’s do!”

“As MiLady Wishes,” Bobby laughed, quickly lining himself up.

She let out a moan the likes of which only he and Duff’d ever heard before as he took his Time with bottoming out again. Considering that labor was far from being painless, he didn’t wanna hurt her by going too fast, but he also didn’t wanna risk her Wrath by going too slowly. He’d to find that happy medium between both those things so he could maintain as much of a Balance as possible, given the circumstances.

As the Silver Fox leaned over her back to nuzzle her, neither of them noticed the way Ash’s nostrils flared as he watched them. Even though they were too wrapped up in their intimate moment to notice, the ginger damn sure did–and she couldn’t help wondering just what was going through her husband’s mind. He’d never been attracted to their friend–at least, not that he’d admitted to–so she didn’t think it was that, _per sé_. To be quite honest, she figured it was more so basically watching a live-action porno with a few added elements that was getting to him.

Once he’d given her a few momentsta adjust, Bobby started a slow, gentle rhythm, purposely angling himself to hit her sweet spot. The young woman mewled in pained pleasure, gasping as his hips pressing against her momentarily pressed the plug a hair deeper into her. Every Time it pressed in just that lil bit deeper, it hit a sweet spot that could only be hit when she actually indulged in anal. It made her clamp down on him, eliciting a pleasured groan from him, and she just barely registered feeling fingers twitch against her own.

Knowing he was about to get himself in trouble, if he didn’t excuse himself for a few moments, Ash pushed himself up and turned for the bathroom door. Aerin didn’t seem to notice him leave, as caught up in the current shenanigans as she seemed, but he shoulda known better. She knew full well that he’d just left the room, and that his wife was hot on his heels, even though her own husband was currently making her eyes roll back in her head. But she choseta ignore that–not to mention hearing them having some sorta discussion in the bedroom–before her trance got broken to the point that she was still unable to get off. After all, she was at the point that if she didn’t, she was gonna pitch a bitch-fit that could be heard at the End of the block.

“That’s it, sweetheart–come for me,” the Silver Fox growled, still maintaining the rhythm he’d started.

All she could do at that point was moan, seemingly not even feeling the contraction currently gripping her.

“There we go,” Bobby groaned, pressing against her as she set off his orgasm when hers started.

_“Mmm,”_ the young woman hummed, going limp against the tub a few seconds later. “Need more.”

“Gotta lemme reload the pistol, so to speak,” he chuckled.

“Or ya can get some help.”

Looking up, Aerin looked just as surprised as her husband to see Ash back in the doorway, his shirt now unbuttoned. “Wha–”

“Let’s just say that finding out you’re actually into anal was surprising, but good in a weird way,” he chuckled.

“Changed your mind on being unwilling, huh?” the Silver Fox asked with a chuckle of his own.

“Hey, I’m not gonna deny a live-action porno being arousing,” Ash laughed. “But I’ll admit that I’ve kinda wanted to try being on the giving End of anal for Years–just never found anyone who wanted to be on the receiving End.”

“And what’s Aidan gotta say about this?” Bobby asked, shivering as he softened enough to slip out.

“Aidan says that if it’s treated more or less as a scene, he might as well instead of getting himself cut off for a Night by even trying to talk Aidan into it again,” the ginger answered, smirking as she peeped out from behind him.

“Normally, I’d be saying hell, no to anyone else besides Duff,” Aerin admitted, wincing as she pushed herself upright to rub her belly. “But right now, I just want these boogers out, even if it sends me into subspace.”

The younger bassist laughed as he leaned down to give his wife a quick kiss, none of them surprised she definitely didn’t really wanna watch this part. It was already hard enough for her to share him when it came to their typical scenes, regardless of who Topped and who bottomed. Sharing him like this, even if they went into it like any other scene, was no doubt even harder for her, so they didn’t blame her for not wanting to watch.

As he quickly disrobed so he could join them, his older counterpart gently removed the toy he’d used on his own wife before. Aerin let out another mewl as she felt it pop free, then slowly slide out since he wouldn’t allow it to fly out like a rocket as she tightened around it. Once the toy was removed and laid aside for the moment, he gently moved so she could straddle him as she’d been doing upon their friends’ arrival. Normally, he’d wanna do this part himself, but something told him that Ash was stepping up to bat as it were for a reason, and he wanted to know what that reason was.

Bobby allowed the young woman to grind on him, which was more so trying to dance her way through a contraction than not. It served to stimulate him again as his younger counterpart stepped into the tub so he could kneel behind her, which was definitely a good thing. And as the younger man settled behind her, he could tell that while he was obviously aroused, he was still nervous about what he was getting ready to do. Taking a deep breath, he managed to catch his attention so they could lay down some rules before truly getting started.


	11. Eleven

Despite his wife grinding on him in such a maddening way, the Silver Fox managed to keep it together enough to fill Ash in on their ground rules. Whenever she’d agree to a threesome that involved double penetration like this, whoever wound up with the back door’d to exercise the utmost gentleness. How they felt on the matter didn’t exactly–well, matter, given that Aerin’d pitch a bitch-fit for Days, if they caused her too much pain. She might be able to handle the actual act, but that didn’t mean she wanted anything ripped, which could happen with all too much ease.

“Ya can’t treat her ass like it’s a pussy unless you’re treating it like the pussy of a virgin,” he chuckled, gently rubbing her back when she groaned with a contraction. “Trust me when I say that the attitude you’ll get for rendering her unable to shit straight for a week ain’t worth it.”

“So, I pretty much gotta do what _you_ were doing with that toy?” the younger bassist asked, still sounding nervous.

“Pretty much,” Bobby answered, nodding. “Ya just gotta keep in mind that you’re actually bigger than the plug, so ya gotta go even slower.”

“Wait, really?” He looked surprised to hear that.

“The plug’s an inch and a-half, at its widest,” the Silver Fox laughed. “I’m pretty sure we’re both thicker than that.”

“Yeah, ya got me there,” Ash chuckled, finally starting to sound a lil more at-ease about this.

“She’s already stretched out from said plug, though, so it shouldn’t be _that_ hard to manage without hurting her,” he told him. “Just watch her reactions like ya do in a true scene, and you’ll know whatcha can and can’t do.”

“Well, that certainly oughta help,” the younger bassist agreed.

Since it was often easier this way, Bobby gently lifted her hips so he could get lined up and enter her first, something he and Duff took turns doing, depending on who got which orifice during a threesome. Aerin moaned loudly as she sank down on him, her head tipped back to rest against her best friend’s shoulder since he’d moved close enough. Her expression was one of pure, unadulterated pleasure, and that gave him enough Confidenceta go ahead and start lining himself up.

Just like he’d been told to, Ash made sure to be incredibly gentle on her, barely putting any pressure against her back door at first. She couldn’t have bit back her gasp as she leaned toward her husband now, causing her to curl around her belly like she was getting an epidural. After an orgasm the likes of which she’d already had, she couldn’t help being hypersensitive to the slightest touch, especially in such an intimate region. Already having said husband buried in her almost to his pubes again certainly added to her sensitivity, which happened pretty much every Time she went at it.

The Silver Fox continued rubbing her back, making sure she stayed still so she wouldn’t fuck him up as their friend slowly increased the amount of pressure he was putting against her. Even as he waited as patiently as he could, he was starting to get a bit antsy, considering that he’d never been able to bury himself in a woman and hold still for very long.

Both he and Aerin knew when the younger bassist’d managed to get at least his tip in, although for slightly different reasons. While they both heard the soft, surprised gasp he let out as his lil head finally slipped in, they felt that gentle entrance in different ways. Obviously, the young woman felt herself cave to the pressure, so to speak, while her husband felt it as an increased pressure against his own shaft. It felt the same to them as when Duff was the third party joining them, so they didn’t really react beyond laughing softly as he pushed in further. He was still careful not to hurt her, even as he bottomed out and held still to give them both a moment to adjust, but he couldn’t help squirming slightly.

“Okay, feeling another guy against me–in a couple different ways–in a lil weird, I’ll admit,” Ash chuckled.

“You’ll get used to it, kid,” Bobby laughed, unable to help twitching in anticipation, which surprised him. “Just don’t get so zealous thatcha start slamming into _my_ balls too hard, ’cuz that ain’t gonna feel good for either of us.”

“I didn’t figure it would,” he said, now unable to help a twitch of his own.

“Now, what we usually do is a bit of a tandem rhythm,” the Silver Fox told him. “One of us thrusting in while the other’s pulling out.”

“Till they’re both blowing their loads,” Aerin giggled, wincing as another contraction decided to hit at that very moment.

“Yeah, ’cuz we’re both usually _in_ at that point,” he agreed as he rubbed her back again.

“I think we can manage that well enough–when she’s _not_ contracting, that is,” Ash said, nodding.

“Oh, the more she gets into it, the easier we’ll be able to keep going right through the contractions,” his older counterpart told him. “But that’ll take a few minutesta build up to.”

Nodding, the younger bassist simply held still while they waited out this most recent contraction, deciding on letting Bobby take the lead. He might know his best friend pretty well, but the older bassist was gonna know things like this about her better since he was one of her husbands. Letting him take the lead and start their rhythm was prolly better, ’cuz he’d no doubt know what she did and didn’t like better.

After she’d relaxed, Aerin gave them both a nod as she squirmed again, unable to help the throbbing in her loins since she was so horny. Said husband Returned that nod and gently lifted her hips slightly, forcing their friend to move with them so he wouldn’t accidentally pull out. Once they were both in a slightly better position, he managed to sit up enough to give her a kiss as he started that rhythm, his hands still gripping her ass. Neither of them could help a pleasured moan and some kinda anticipatory twitch as he slowly pulled out, which their friend felt alongside them.

Only when Bobby started to push back in did said friend start to pull out, still thinking that feeling another man against him in such an intimate manner was a lil weird. He might be up for being on the giving End of anal again in the Future, but he didn’t think he’d let it be as a threesome like this. Feeling another man’s shaft against his own–or that other man’s nuts against his–was just a lil too weird for him. He honestly wasn’t sure how Duff and the Silver Fox could tolerate it, but he _was_ sure that he didn’t wanna ask and find out.

 _“Mmm_ –guide our hands, sweetheart,” said older bassist murmured against her temple. “Ya know _I’m_ not gonna touch ya without knowing _where_ ya want it.”

Mewling again, Aerin reached down to grab the younger bassist’s hands, which momentarily startled him.

“Just relax, kid,” he told him with a chuckle. “She’s so tender and sensitive right now that trying to guess where she wantsta be touched might getcha smacked.”

“Well, all right, then,” Ash said, allowing her to guide his handsta where she wanted them. Part of him wasn’t surprised when she dragged his right hand under her belly in a clear sign to rub her clit, the other getting dragged up to her breast.

“Just don’t squeeze,” she whimpered once he was cupping the swollen flesh in his palm. “Hurts too much.”

“All right, I gotcha,” he agreed, readjusting so that his forearm supported her left breast while he was cupping the right one instead. Now he understood why her own husband hadn’t really done anything to her breasts during their earlier romp.

Bobby groaned as her increasing pleasure made her clamp down on both of them, his younger counterpart gasping softly as his hips jerked. That kinda reaction normally woulda spurred both of them into faster movement, but they’d to remember just how tender she was right now. If they did what they’d normally do with her and Aidan, they prolly wouldn’t End the Day with their junk still attached–and if it was, it might be attached to the sides of their heads or something.

It wasn’t very long before Aerin physically couldn’t loosen her intimate grip on them, her eyes rolling back as she reached the edge. Feeling her best friend’s middle and ring fingers rubbing gentle Circles on her clit–which’d actually surprised him when she proved to be able to take a direct touch–was sending her closer to tumbling over it into that abyss she craved.

Starting with a gasp that quickly turned into a pleasured moan, the young woman stiffened in their hold, only the telltale pulsing of her pelvic muscles giving away that she was all right. The Silver Fox surprisingly couldn’t hold back any longer, even though he’d already gotten off once, and pushed in as deep and gently as he could. Feeling not only his best friend’s rhythm pulsing, but the equally rhythmic throbbing of her husband against his shaft set the younger bassist off, too. He couldn’t bite back a moan of his own as he pushed in as deep as she could tolerate and allowed himself to let loose, his face now buried against her hair almost like he was embarrassed by the whole situation.

Once they’d gone limp and managed to catch their breath, Bobby told him that he was gonna have to somewhat forcibly extricate himself once he was ready, but it wasn’t that hard. Then again, he could always wait till he was mostly flaccid again, ’cuz he’d pretty much slip out on his own once he backed away from her slightly. It mostly depended on whether these romps’d caused her to dilate enough to start pushing, which they’d be able to tell by how she grunted, if such a thing happened. After all, that’d been part of what made him call out for the obstetric professionals, who’d been hanging out in the kitchen while they were going at it before.

“Oh, fuck me,” Aerin whimpered, that telltale grunt following her words just as they slipped out.

“Is _that_ the gruntcha were talking about?” the younger bassist asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

“That’d be it,” he chuckled, nodding. “Go get Dr. Kenda and Kelly while I’m getting her out so we can refill the tub, if that’s what she wants.”

“Bed,” the young woman groaned, fighting her urge to push.

“All right, all right,” Bobby agreed. He was careful about climbing outta the tub, not even bothering to dry off before he bent down to pick her up.

While he was working on that, Ash at least dried off enough to prevent slipping and falling down the stairs, then dragged his boxers back on as he headed outta the master suite. He wasn’t quite sure what part of the house everyone else was in, but judging by where groups usually gathered, he figured starting in the kitchen and great room was his best bet.

“Everything all right, love?” Aidan asked when she looked up and saw him.

“Bobby says she’s pushing,” he answered, looking at Dr. Kenda instead of his wife.

“Then she’s prolly fully dilated,” the OB/GYN said as she rose from the couch. “If not, she’ll be at nine centimeters when I check her.”

“Really?” Ash asked, looking surprised.

“It’s common for a woman to feel the need to push at nine centimeters,” Kelly answered, nodding as they all headed upstairs. “In fact, a gentle push or two at that point can help her dilate that last centimeter.”

“I’m pretty sure neither of us knew that,” the younger bassist chuckled, wrapping an arm around his wife. “We kinda got robbed of this part last Time around, or we wouldn’t need a surrogate now.”

“We’ll save that explanation for _after_ we’ve two healthy babies,” Dr. Kenda laughed, gently knocking on the bedroom door.

“She’s already Crowning!” Bobby’s voice answered from the other side of it.

Opening said Mahogany panel, they walked into see Aerin propped up against a mound of pillows, her face turning red from her latest attempt at pushing. Her older husband sat on the edge of the bed almost side-saddle, his fingers gentle as he tried to help her stretch open around the baby’s head without tearing. While he might not be any kinda obstetric professional, he _did_ remember that just letting a mother go all-out as she delivered could result in injuries for mother, child, or both.

Dr. Kenda was quick to take over once she’d stopped pushing, glad to see that she wasn’t at risk of tearing and therefore in need of an episiotomy. She’d been lucky not to need one the first Time around when Zep and Zeta were born, considering they’d been some decently big babies. It seemed as though these babies were roughly the same size, so she’d known that could go either way again, and only Time’d tell.

Ash and Aidan stood back so they were outta the way, but could still see as she delivered while Bobby took up a position at her side. Seeing him grab one of her feet and lift her leg like it was in one of the stirrups used at the OB/GYN’s office actually made his younger counterpart move to do the same from the other side of the bed. His wife still continued to hang back with the nurses, who were setting up their suppliesta clean and assess the babies as they were born. She didn’t exactly wanna get caught up in the actual delivery, if she didn’t have to, ’cuz seeing it was already testing the limits of her stomach a bit.

 _“Never…again!”_ Aerin screeched as she finally got the first baby’s head out. “I’ll have a hysterectomy done before I’ve another kid, biological or otherwise!”

“Looks like Duff won’t get a chanceta add to _his_ branch of the family, then,” the younger bassist chuckled.

A torrent of Italian–mostly Curses–answered him, which made both bassists laugh.

“All right, gimme a gentle push,” the OB/GYN told her.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the backs of her thighs and bore down again, looking as deranged as she had during her first delivery. _“Fuck!”_

“I know, I know–getting the shoulders out is never pleasant,” Dr. Kenda chuckled.

“Well, no shit–bones popping free of bones hurts!” the young woman snapped.

“Gimme another push so we can get the other one out,” she told her.

Aerin growled as she gave another push, which was punctuated by a second pained cry as the other shoulder popped free of her pelvic bone.

“A couple more pushes, and this booger’ll be born,” the OB/GYN declared.

“Only to have to do it a second Time–again!” she grumbled, gearing up for another push.

Just like she’d said, she was pulling the baby free after another couple pushes delivered it to its waist and pulling it up to lay on her breasts. Everyone in the room couldn’t help some kinda happy noise, but the other couple were pleasantly surprised to see this twin was a boy. Now they were glad they’d gone with a gender-neutral theme for the nursery they’d set up, ’cuz they still didn’t know if the second baby was a boy or a girl.

After clearing the baby’s airways and clamping its cord, Dr. Kenda extended a pair of scissorsta the baby’s waiting parents. She didn’t particularly care who cut the cord–she could always do it herself, if need be–but she didn’t wanna rob them of such an experience, if she didn’t have to. Ash seemed grateful to be allowed that chance, which was something he’d wanted to do when Ember was born, but hadn’t gotten the chance. Emergency C-sections were never pleasant, but that was just one more thing that wreck and its aftermath’d collectively robbed him and his wife of.

Even though she surprised herself a bit, Aidan managed to wrap her hand around her husband’s much like when they’d cut the cake after their handfasting. She was more than a bit Awed as she looked at the baby, then focused her attention down toward his lil belly to make sure the scissors hit the right spot. Neither of them could help a laugh as the slimy cord fell victim to their sharp blades, already able to tell that he was gonna be every bit as well-endowed as his daddy was.

“Let’s see if ya need to dilate that last centimeter or two again,” the OB/GYN said after handing the boy off to Jasmine.

“Gods, I hope not,” Aerin whimpered. “I feel like I could use a dose of Percocet and a week of uninterrupted sleep!”

“Behave yourself, and I might give ya that dose of Percocet after this is all done, if you’re not gonna help nurse,” she told her with a chuckle.

“Haven’t decided on that part,” the young woman responded, wincing as she started to check her. “Aidan’s been on the hormonesta jumpstart lactation, so it guess it’ll depend on how well her milk’s come in.”

“Eh, it feels like it mighta,” Aidan admitted. “I mean, I’m swollen and sore, but it’s not like I’ve started leaking yet.”

“Trying to nurse might help with that, but we’ll find out in a few minutes,” Dr. Kenda told them. “This next baby’s as impatient as their brother and surrogate mama!”

The young woman couldn’t help a cheer, even as her husband and best friend got ready to help her curl up around her belly again.

“C’mon, sweetheart–ya can do it,” Bobby murmured in her ear. “Then you’ll _never_ have to again, if ya really don’t wanna.”

“I’ll take getting a surrogate of my own over going through another pregnancy!” she told him.

It didn’t take her very long to have the second baby Crowning, the OB/GYN using her fingersta gently help pull her open around the emerging head. Only another push after that’d delivered said head, making her tell Aerin to stop so she could check for the cord again. The other couple wasn’t confused this Time like they’d been just minutes ago, now knowing that she was checking to make sure the baby wouldn’t be strangled.

Finding no cord wrapped around its lil neck, she looked up at her patient and told her to give her another gentle push. It was pretty obviousta all in the room that she was exhausted and on the verge of being unable to keep going, but she managed a nod and grabbed her thighs again. Even the young woman knew she was too closeta being done to just give up now, that she could sleep all she wanted once they and their placentas’d been delivered. Giving up now’d only result in her doctor having to take drastic measuresta deliver the second baby, and none of them wanted that.

After just a few more pushes, the second baby slipped out even more easily than its twin brother had, and Dr. Kenda was quick to pull it up to cradle against her breast for a moment. She didn’t even really get a chanceta clear out its airways before it started gurgling, then sucked in its first breath and let out a screech to rival a Banshee. Both couples couldn’t help a laugh, the baby’s biological parents more so than their friends, all of them surprised to see a baby girl when she moved to lay the child on Aerin’s breasts.

She worked on cleaning her up just enough to stimulate a continuance of those shrieks before turning her attention to clamping her cord. Just like before, she handed a pair of scissorsta the other couple, who worked together to cut their second daughter’s cord. With that task done, she was handed off to Holly to be further cleaned and assessed, her parents following in her wake while Bobby stayed by his wife’s side. Neither really wanted to see the delivery of the placentas any more than he truly did, so at least this’d keep them from fainting at the sight of blood. But one thing was for sure now–their family was complete unless they still went through with an adoption, now that Dallas Ashley and Cadence Aerin’d arrived safe and sound.


	12. Twelve

On the Morn of June fifth, not even twelve hours after the Births of Dallas Ashley and Cadence Aerin Purdy, all was eerily quiet in the Dall house. Despite it being so early, the Sun was just barely Beginning to rise for the Day, there was usually at least one person starting to stir by now. But after the exhausting afternoon and Eve they’d had the Day previous, it was no Wonder not a Soul stirred beyond soft breathing as Duff let himself in, Bobby’s kids and grandkids hot on his heels.

Considering how quiet the house was, he figured the first place he oughta look while Zach was starting breakfast for at least his siblings was the master suite. The Silver Fox’d called him to let him know that Aerin’d gone into labor with the Purdys’ twins, but unfortunately, no flights from Seattle were headed East till around Midnight. He’d still kept in touch with them as much as he could, and he’d been glad when his gray-haired counterpart’d called to let him know that there’d been a safe, healthy delivery of a baby boy and girl around nine that Night.

When he opened the door to the master suite, the blonde bassist paused long enough to let his eyes adjust to the nearly pitch-black room, and he was glad he did. His shared wife and the man he shared her with were asleep in their bed, but there turned out to be an Air mattress in the floor at the foot of it. That was where Ash and Aidan’d settled after the mess of delivery was cleaned up, their babies in a nearby bassinet.

Duff let a smile cross his face as he quietly crossed the room to the California-King bed that Dominated the wall closest to the bathroom door. Part of him felt bad about not having been here to help support his younger wife through her labor, but he didn’t really let it get to him. Between Bobby and their younger counterpart–even the ginger, if she’d been in the room at any point–she’d plenty of support. Knowing that her OB/GYN, a midwife she worked with regularly, and a pair of obstetric nurses’d been there for the physical part of delivery brought him even more relief. He’d known how much the young woman hated medical facilities, and how she’d refused to deliver in a hospital, if it was unnecessary, but he’d still been worried.

_“Mmmm,”_ said young wife moaned in her sleep, feeling him gently settle on what was considered _his_ side of the bed.

_“Hmm?”_ Bobby looked a bit confused as he lifted his head a bit, startled awake by hearing that soft moan.

_“Shhhh_ –it’s just me, man,” the blonde bassist whispered, biting back a chuckle.

_“Mmm_ –Morn,” he yawned, settling back down.

“I guess I don’t even really need to ask how she’s doing,” Duff said, gently stroking her hair.

“Sore, but who wouldn’t be after pushing fourteen pounds of baby outta their crotch?” the Silver Fox chuckled, careful to keep his voice down.

“I think that’s pretty much a given, as is the exhaustion,” he agreed. “Kinda like Ash and Aidan winding up on an Air mattress in here, I suppose.”

_“Mmm hmm.”_ Bobby nodded as he finally pushed himself up onto one elbow, careful not to disturb their sleeping wife. “Aidan’s milk hasn’t quite come in, so Aerin said she’d help her nurse till it did.”

“And if the babies were gonna be in here, it makes sense for their parentsta be, as well.” The blonde bassist Returned the nod as said parents started to stir at the foot of the bed.

“Easier than trying to run across the house, that’s for damn sure,” Aidan grumbled as she sat up.

Laughing softly as he turned his attention to the other couple, Duff greeted the other couple, biting back harder laughter when Ash grunted and buried his face in his pillow. He reminded him of when Zep was fighting waking up, either for the Morn or from naptime, and he couldn’t help thinking it was cute. With all that Dark hair–which was actually starting to go a bit gray at the roots, if he didn’t keep it dyed–in what lil of his face wasn’t buried, he looked like a cute, but overgrown child.

The ginger quickly took her turn in the bathroom, not wanting it to be occupied when her friend woke for the Morn. No doubt she’d have to go since most folks did as soon as they woke, but she’d prolly have a harder Time holding it after delivering two fair-sized babies. If barely taking the Time to wipe after taking her Morn piss kept Aerin from pissing the bed, she was all for rushing herself right now.

As she Returned to the bedroom a couple minutes later, she saw the blonde bassist helping his shared wife outta bed. Judging by the pinched look on her face, she was no doubt struggling to hold it till she made it to the toilet mere feet away from the bed. Chuckling as she gestured toward the bathroom as if to say, _It’s all yours,_ Aidan headed over to the bassinet to check on the newborns. Her husband peeped up at her, what lil bit of noise they were all making apparently keeping him from settling back into sleep, considering the way he pushed himself upright with a huff.

“Well, well, well–look who’s awake already,” she giggled after turning on one of the bedside lamps.

Dallas and Cadence winced at first, but quickly looked up at her with wide brown eyes.

“I know, I know–Mama sorry ’bout dat,” the ginger crooned, gently picking her son up.

“I got Cadence for ya.”

Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Bobby’d joined her. “Ya don’t have to do that.”

“Trust me, it’ll be easier to have someone else hand her to ya,” he chuckled, gently picking up the newborn girl. “Since Ash’s getting his boxers on, and Duff’s helping Aerin…”

“All right, all right,” she laughed, moving to settle on the bed. “I’m just glad I wore one of Ash’s button-downsta bed–it’ll make nursing that much easier right now.”

“Oh, Aerin did the same thing right after Zep and Zeta were born,” the Silver Fox said, dancing slightly as he cradled the baby girl against his chest. One couldn’t say that he didn’t have experience with holding a baby, as Natural and at-ease as he looked while doing so.

“I swear, I still feel like I’ma break ’em,” Ash chuckled, finally rising from the Air mattress.

“It takes a while to get used to, I’ll admit,” he told him. “Ya think I felt any differently when Zach was a newborn?”

“Prolly not,” the youngest bassist admitted, frowning when he noticed the slightly pinched look on his face. “Ya all right, man?”

“Gotta piss, but I wanted to let Aerin take her turn first, and my knee’s acting up,” Bobby answered. “I’ll be all right, though, once I get some Aleve in me for it.”

“Ya sure about that?” he asked as his older counterpart moved to get Cadence settled with her mama.

“Prolly gonna have to have more fluid drained off it after all the kneeling I did yesterday,” the Silver Fox answered. “Means I’ll likely need a knee replacement within the next Year, but hey, I can deal with it.”

Ash couldn’t help a wince as Duff Returned with the young woman cradled to his chest, his concern shifting to her when he realized she was openly crying. The only Times Aerin’d ever cried in front of him was on the anniversary of her pappaw’s Death, and that was only so she could purge anything she’d bottled up for a Year straight. He was beyond worried by the tears coursing down her cheeks, not to mention the pained cry she let out as her younger husband settled her on the other side of the bed as gently as he possibly could.

It turned out that straddling Bobby’s lap for so long, then having her legs pulled open so wide to deliver’d caused her hip to start acting up. She’d had problems with it since before she’d even met the youngest bassist, but situations like that usually aggravated it a lil too much. Normally, she could handle whatever pain it caused her till the Aleve kicked in, but this seemed like it was gonna be a Percocet kinda Day.

Bobby was quick to reassure the other couple that she’d be fine eventually, no matter what she’d to take to get some relief. The same thing’d happened immediately after their own twins were born, leaving her bedridden unless she’d help getting around for the first week or so after delivery. When one added the pain of sore, overstretched musclesta the mix, it was no Wonder she was in enough pain to openly cry. Granted, knowing that still made them feel a bit bad, considering she hadn’t _had_ to do this for them, but it also made them even more grateful than they already were.

“I mean, ya knew this was gonna happen again,” the youngest bassist said, gently brushing her hair back. “Butcha still did it, anywhore.”

“Yeah, I knew this was gonna happen,” Aerin said, whimpering as she tried to shift into a slightly comfier position. “But what’ve I already toldja?”

“That you’d want me–or any other close friend–to step up without being asked, if it were _you_ in my shoes,” the ginger answered, shooting her a grateful smile. “And Gods know I would, if it were safe for me to carry my own child.”

“Without a second Thought, I’m sure,” Bobby chuckled. “They actually getting anything this Time?”

“I don’t think so,” she answered with a slight wince. “Either that, or they’re just so hungry that they’re trying to suck my nipples clean off.”

Gently plucking Dallas from his mama’s arms, the Silver Fox wasn’t surprised when he screeched irritably. “I’d say they’re prolly not getting anything just yet.”

“Hey, don’t worry, hon.” Duff gently rubbed her shoulder when she looked dejected. “Your body hasn’t been stimulated into producing milk Naturally like Aerin’s has, so it might take a lil longer.”

“And I’ve said that in the meantime, I’m willing to pump so they stay fed,” the young woman reminded her, letting her husband settle the screaming boy in her arms.

“Just ’cuz it’s slow-going for now doesn’t mean it’s gonna stay that way,” Ash reassured her. “And even if it _does,_ I’m sure there’s ways of mimicking nursing so ya still get that experience, even if they’re getting Aerin’s milk instead.”

“Oh, there’s a way,” Aerin chuckled, now letting her friend settle Cadence in her other arm. “It’ll involve me pumping and them technically being bottle-fed, though.”

As she got the newborns latched on, which resulted in them suckling more happily rather than greedily, she explained a technique she’d heard of, but never had to use with Zep and Zeta. She’d pump her milk, which’d then be poured into bottles that could be hung from around either parent’s neck. From there, a pair of catheters’d get taped to their chest right above their nipples, allowing the babiesta latch onto the lil nub of flesh to suckle. It’d almost mimic nursing since they’d still get getting the breast milk both parents wanted them to have, but it’d be their auntie producing said milk instead of their mother.

That actually made Aidan perk up a bit, saying that such a thing might actually be worth a shot while they waited to see if her milk’d come in better. At least she’d still get to try, and even if it didn’t work out quite the way she wanted, she wouldn’t be totally robbed of such an experience again. In fact, trying such an unorthodox way of nursing might actually help stimulate her milk production better, as it turned out.

“Having her nipples suckled more can help with that,” Aerin chuckled when her best friend looked confused. “And if they’re technically getting _my_ milk till hers comes in, if it’s gonna–well, at least they’re still getting fed _au Natural_ till then.”

“That’s true enough, I suppose,” he agreed. “And if it helps with her actually getting to nurse with her own milk, I’m all for it.”

“We’ll have to talk to Dr. Kenda and that lactation consultant about it,” the young woman said. “She may or may not have to stay on those hormone shotsta manage it.”

“Hey, I’m willing to suffer a daily poke for the next two Years, if I don’t get robbed of this experience _again,”_ Aidan declared.

Nobody in the room could help a laugh at her vehemence, but they also weren’t surprised by that, considering the events immediately after her older daughter’s Birth. She’d been so drugged on painkillers and sedativesta help her pelvis Heal that it wouldn’t have been safe for her to nurse, whether she’d wanted to or not. And it wouldn’t have mattered if Ember was born too early, on Time, or slightly later than her projected due date.

It wasn’t long before there was a knock at the bedroom door, which Duff rose from his perch on the foot of the bed to answer. As it turned out, Zach’d come up to let them know that he’d made enough for anyone who wanted it when he was working on breakfast for the older set of twins. He wasn’t sure if they’d want it brought up to the master suite, or if they felt like coming downstairs, so he’d just decided to come up and tell them. In addition to that, Aidan’s mother’d arrived with the Purdys’ older daughter, who was veritably vibrating with her excitement at getting to meet her new siblings.

Ash and Aidan decided to head down with the young man, if only so they could give said older daughter the attention they knew she still needed. Just ’cuz they’d two new babiesta love and take care of now didn’t mean they could just cast her aside and ignore her–not that either of them’d the heart to do that, anywhore. Since their friend was nursing said babies for them, they didn’t see why they couldn’t take a few momentsta spend with Ember while they had them.

Shortly after the other couple’d left, Bobby was helping his shared wife burp the newborns so they could be changed. Duff’d taken it upon himself to gather supplies for that upcoming diaper change, the three of them managing to work together cohesively. If these babies’d belonged to either of the older bassists, it was pretty clear they’d be able to form a functioning system for taking care of them. They just hoped their friends’d be able to do something similar with just the two of them, especially considering they’d never taken care of twin infants before. No doubt it’d be hard for them, but they’d Faith that they’d be able to manage without it tearing their relationship apart.


End file.
